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Friday, October 15, 2010 - 05.26 GMT |
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Tamils detained
in Thailand face deportation |
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Sri Lankan Tamils arrested by Thai authorities are being held in an immigration detention center and face court proceedings for immigration violations.
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi says each detainee's visa status will be assessed following their court appearances. Most face charges of overstaying their visas, Voice of America reported.
Thai authorities have arrested more than 100 Sri Lankan Tamils this week because of fears they might be taken illegally to destinations such as Canada and Australia.
South Asian diplomatic sources say Thai authorities made the arrests because of a growing number of Sri Lankan Tamils arriving on tourist visas. Of the 130 arrested this week, more than 60 are women and children and many have lived in Thailand up to three years, reported VOA.
Thani says the arrests were part of normal efforts to enforce immigration laws and prevent people smuggling.
"As you know the Thai authorities have been working closely with the authorities of other friendly countries on the issue of human trafficking and the arrests made were a law enforcement effort to address this issue," Thani said. "So everything was carried out with a view to enforce immigration laws."
In August, Canadian authorities detained a Thai-registered ship with almost 500 Tamil asylum seekers on board. Officials in Canada were concerned that some on board had links to the LTTE, which many countries consider a terrorist group.
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