Thailand calls for int'l assistance for Rohingya refugees

BANGKOK, January 18 (TNA) - Supreme Commander General Thanasak Patimaprakorn has called for the international community to join forces to assist Rohingya refugees in Thailand. General Thanasak said on Friday that, rather than pressuring Thailand to take responsibility, the international community should also step in and help the Rohingya ethnics from Myanmar. The armed forces chief insisted on Thailand’s humanitarian support for the Rohingya Muslims but dismissing the possibility of their long-stay in the Kingdom, where rules and laws are to be upheld. The Thai supreme commander said he believes, however, that Thailand was only used as a transit point for the fleeing Rohingya ethnics to other countries. Meanwhile, assistance to the number of Rohingya migrants in the Thai South, mostly in the form of relief packages, has been continued from all sectors in the society, pending talks on their future between the Thai government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). (TNA)