Malaysia deports 130 Thai Muslim asylum-seekers

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia has deported all the 131
Thai Muslims who fled their homeland last year to escape rising
violence in Thailand’s troubled south, state news agency
Bernama said on Tuesday.

The group, which had been in Malaysian custody since last
August, was the largest to have fled to Malaysia from southern
Thailand, where more than 1,000 people have been killed in two
years of separatist unrest.

“No more issues. All have been sent back. Both sides are
very happy,” the news agency quoted Malaysia’s law minister,
Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, as telling reporters.

Malaysia had earlier handed back one unidentified member of
the group, whom Bangkok had accused of involvement in militant
activities.

The 130 Thais were repatriated late last year, Bernama
quoted Malaysian Attorney-General Gani Patail as saying. Both
Gani and Radzi declined further comment.

The repatriation came as a surprise to the office of the
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, which had interviewed the
Thais while in detention.

“We, too, are in the dark,” said spokeswoman Yante Ismail.

Ties between mainly Muslim Malaysia and the Buddhist
kingdom to its north had been strained over the violence in
Thailand’s largely Muslim far south, where some Muslims are
waging an insurgency.

Malaysia is unhappy with some heavy-handed tactics Thailand
has used to suppress the unrest, while Bangkok suspects
insurgents are crossing into Malaysia to avoid capture.

Last week, Thailand said it would ask Malaysia to help
prevent separatist rebels setting off bombs with mobile phones
registered in Malaysia.