by Khin Maung Lay
Posted March 6, 2009
The Rohingya, a people previously unknown to many, were recently the focus of international media attention when two groups totaling around 1,000 people landed on the shores of Thailand. For years, mostly during the winter when the ocean is comparatively calm, many Rohingya have boarded poorly equipped boats and embarked on journeys from their homeland in Arakan, a state in the western part of Burma. They cross the Andaman Sea to escape persecution and to search for a better life in Southeast Asia. But in January, the Thais did not greet the Rohingya with wide grins and open arms. Instead, authorities in the “Land of Smiles” forced them back into their boats and returned them to the ocean. Abandoned in open waters, hundreds perished.