S M Mizanur Rahman :More Bangladesh nationals were found in Rattaphum district in Songkhla province of Thailand on Saturday, according to agency reports.There are 117 people, only 26 of them are Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and the rest are from Bangladesh,’ Ekarat Sisen, Deputy Governor of Songkhla Province, told newsmen.Talking to The New Nation, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam on Saturday said as 117 migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar were found in Rattaphum district in Songkhla province of Thailand, Bangladesh government will bring their initiate move to back to the country soon. “First of all, we will have to check and crosscheck whether they are Bangladesh nationals or not,” State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam told The New Nation on Saturday.Shahriar Alam said Bangladesh Ambassador to Thailand Saida Muna Tasneem has already met the governor and head of police of Songkhla and talked to them on overall situation. He said both the governor and police chief extended all out cooperation to the Bangladesh Ambassador and assured her of taking steps to return Bangladesh nationals. “If the Thai government files cases against Bangladesh nationals in connection with the illegally trespassing into the country, it will be difficult for us to bring them back home immediately. But as we have a good relations with the Thai government, the problem will be solved. But it may take sometimes,” he said. “We are going to hold an inter-ministerial meeting in this regard. To identify the human traffickers a process is now on,” Shahriar Alam said.Thai authorities meanwhile questioned more than 100 migrants discovered in the country’s south to determine whether they were victims of human trafficking, as Thailand races to meet a deadline to uncover people smuggling camps within its borders, according to agency report.Huddled in a meeting room in Rattaphum district, the 117 migrants, including three children, brushed their teeth, slept, prayed and ate, waiting to be interviewed, according to a Reuters reporter at the scene.Some Thai villagers came to donate water, rice and fruit to the migrants. Thirteen-year-old Busri Salam, from Bangladesh, said his group disembarked a boat in Thailand and trekked for two weeks in the Thai jungle to try and reach Malaysia. ‘My brother is in Malaysia,’ said Busri. ‘I wanted to go there.’An estimated 25,000 Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis boarded people-smugglers’ boats in the first three months of the year, double the number a year earlier, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Friday.The migrants brave perilous journeys to escape religious and ethnic persecution and poverty. Thirty-three bodies, believed to be migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh, have been found in shallow graves over the past week in Songkhla province. Three suspected trafficking camps were also found.Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha announced a 10-day deadline to crack down the illicit trade. On Friday, Prayuth called for a three-way meeting with neighbours Malaysia and Myanmar to try to resolve a regional human trafficking crisis following the discoveries.
