61 Malaysia-bound undocumented Myanmars nabbed in Songkhla

 

The illegal immigrants said they were told to wait for assistance to get across the Thai border to enter Malaysia. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: A group of 61 illegal immigrants from Myanmar, comprising mainly children, were arrested at a resort in the southern Thai border province of Songhkla last night.

The group were on their way to Malaysia where some of their parents were believed to be working, the Bangkok Post reported.

A raiding team, which included police and military personnel, found the 32 female and 29 male immigrants hiding in three rooms at the resort in Tambon Thung Lung, Hat Yai district. Most of them were said to be between nine and 17 years old.

According to the report, the migrants told police that they entered Kanchanaburi province via a natural border crossing and had travelled in three pickup trucks from Kanchanaburi to Hat Yai.

Authorities managed to arrest one of the drivers, Kirati Charoenchai, a 39-year-old native from the central Thai province of Ang Thong.

The migrants told police they had paid 150,000 baht (RM19,000) each to job brokers in Myanmar. They were told to wait for assistance to get across the Thai border to enter Malaysia.

The police said all of them tested negative for Covid-19, adding that the migrants were taken to Thung Lung police station for legal proceedings. - FMT