RANONG – Myanmar detainees staged a protest inside the 5-story building of the Ranong Provincial Immigration Office at noon on January 2, demanding that Thai officials release them to celebrate the New Year in Myanmar. A male worker was carrying a cardboard sheet with the Thai words, “Let us go, please.”
The building is used to house Myanmar people awaiting repatriation. There were two sets of blocked iron doors on the lowest floor, each closed from the inside. There was also heavy baggage and the force of Burmese detainees pressing the doors shut, preventing officials from entering.
Later, Pol. Col. Suparerk Pankoson, Director of the Ranong Immigration Bureau, requested assistance from the Ranong Provincial Police Headquarters and the Military Department Special Unit to maintain peace and order. There were 60 officers encircling the building’s front. They used a megaphone and an interpreter to persuade the people of Myanmar to remain calm.
One Myanmar detainee talked to the officer through the second-floor window: “We just want to go home.” The officials then offered to have the leader open the door to talk, while promising that no one would be hurt and that the soldiers would not enter the building.
After an hour, the first set of three leaders opened the quarantine room door and emerged. The Ranong Immigration authorities led them to the investigation room while a plastic strap was wrapped around their wrists. The officers then proceeded up to the second and fifth levels to let 258 detainees—210 men and 48 women—enter the quarantine room and control three other protest leaders to negotiate.
Since the end of last year, the majority of these Burmese detainees have been prosecuted for illegal entry into several provinces in the southern area and main provinces. Their cases were closed before they were taken to Ranong Immigration to await deportation back to the country.
To get their approval, the names must first be submitted to Myanmar government officials through an unusual procedure. 100–200 people can be sent back twice in a month.
The officials clarified the repatriation regulations and cooperated with the Assistant Attache of the Myanmar Labour Department, Ranong Province, to speed up the process of bringing all of them home. It is expected that they will be gradually returned to the country during the next week.
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