Survivors are facing deportationSKY News
Thursday April 10, 2008
Fifty-four Burmese have suffocated to death in the back of a truck which had been illegally transporting them into Thailand.
Ten others were recovering in hospital, suffering from dehydration and lack of oxygen.
Police say 121 people had been crowded into a cold storage container used for transporting seafood. It measured only 20ft long and 7.2ft wide.
The men and women were on their way to Phuket to find work as day labourers, according to police commander in southern Ranong province, Kraithong Chanthongbai.
"The people said they tried to bang on the walls of the container to tell the driver they were dying, but he told them to shut up as police would hear them when they crossed through checkpoints inside Thailand," Colonel Kraithong said.
A survivor told Thai television: "No matter how many times we hit the container, the driver did not pay any attention."The driver was on the run after leaving the truck and the migrants dumped at the side of a road.
The men and women had paid 5,000 baht (£80) each for the journey.
Those that survived the ordeal were arrested and are facing deportation back to Burma.
Economic conditions have forced thousands from military-run Burma into neighbouring Thailand to look for work.
Human Rights Watch said people were fleeing Burma because wages were low and unemployment was high.
But what awaits them in Thailand is often abuse, persecution and exploitation, according to the organisation.
"A lot of people from Burma would much rather come and work in a factory in Thailand in desperate conditions with low pay rather than have to do forced labour and have things stolen from them by the Burmese army," spokesman David Mathieson said.
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