Nearly 300 illegal Rohingya immigrants' attempt to flee foiled

BANGKOK, July 31 (TNA) - A large group of 295 illegal Muslim Rohingya immigrants, awaiting to be sent to third countries, tried to flee from an immigration quarantine in Thailand's southern Songkhla province Tuesday night, but the attempt was foiled by immigration authorities. Songkhla Governor Krisada Boonraj told journalists on Wednesday that the ethnic Muslim Rohingyas from neighbouring Myanmar tried to escape from the immigration quarantine in Songkhla's Sadao district, but the Thai immigration authorities were able to block their movement and to bring the situation under control shortly. To prevent such the problem from reoccurring, the provincial governor acknowledged, the Thai immigration authorities have now separated the 295 Rohingyas into different holding and police stations around Songkhla. The governor said that he has asked Songkhla's provincial public health office to send officials to provide basic medical check-ups to the Rohingya immigrants for humanitarian grounds. According to the provincial governor, the illegal Muslim Rohingyas have been held at Sadao's immigration quarantine for more than seven months and could be worried over their uncertain future, leading to the attempted escape. (TNA)