Muslims Flee to Malaysia and Indonesia by the Hundreds - NYTimes.com: "Attacks on Rohingya villages in 2012 and 2013 by Buddhist mobs in Myanmar forced more than 100,000 Rohingya into refugee camps, where most remain. The violence has abated, but anti-Muslim sentiment remains potent in Myanmar and is linked to a large political movement known as 969 that portrays Muslims as a threat to Buddhism.
The Rohingya pay smugglers to take them to Malaysia, which in recent years has turned a blind eye to their clandestine immigration.
“This is a ruthless business where smugglers will let them die to set an example for others,” said Jeffrey Labovitz, the head of the Thailand operations of the International Organization for Migration, an intergovernmental organization that is helping the refugees. “They are subject to extortion, to rape, sometimes to murder.”
The smuggling and trafficking were long aided by weak law enforcement in Thailand, a major transit point in Southeast Asia for the Rohingya and other migrants. But Thailand has responded to pressure from Europe and the United States by cracking down on officials suspected of complicity in the human-smuggling business and by raiding remote jungle camps where Rohingya were kept in bamboo cages while their families were extorted for money, Thai officials say."
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The Rohingya pay smugglers to take them to Malaysia, which in recent years has turned a blind eye to their clandestine immigration.
“This is a ruthless business where smugglers will let them die to set an example for others,” said Jeffrey Labovitz, the head of the Thailand operations of the International Organization for Migration, an intergovernmental organization that is helping the refugees. “They are subject to extortion, to rape, sometimes to murder.”
The smuggling and trafficking were long aided by weak law enforcement in Thailand, a major transit point in Southeast Asia for the Rohingya and other migrants. But Thailand has responded to pressure from Europe and the United States by cracking down on officials suspected of complicity in the human-smuggling business and by raiding remote jungle camps where Rohingya were kept in bamboo cages while their families were extorted for money, Thai officials say."
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