http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7860095.stm

Burma says Rohingya migrants arriving in Thailand recently could not have come from its shores because they are not among its recognised ethnic groups.

Thailand is under growing pressure to allow international scrutiny of the Rohingya, after claims its military set more than 1,000 of them adrift.

The Rohingya are a Muslim minority from the far west of Burma, but the military government has denied them citizenship.

The Thai government insists they are not refugees, and should be deported.

Thailand's battered image

By allowing the latest group of Rohingya to be processed by the police in full view of the media, the Thai government appears to be signalling that the unofficial policy of towing them out to sea and leaving them there has been abandoned.

But Thailand still insists they are not refugees, despite the scars many of them are carrying from being beaten by Burmese troops.

The 66 adults in the group have already been charged with illegal entry, and ordered to be deported.

But where?

Although they apparently came from Burma, the military government there denies all knowledge of them - in a statement on Friday it even denied the existence of a Rohingya minority, as they are not officially recognised as one of Burma's 100 or so ethnic groups.

There are thought to be up to one million Rohingyas living in Burma, in conditions described by the few aid officials allowed there as some of the most wretched in Asia.

They are subjected to routine abuse by the Burmese military and have their movements restricted, say human rights groups

Hundreds of thousands have fled overseas, mainly to neighbouring Bangladesh, and to Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

Thailand fears accepting them as refugees will encourage many more to make the risky journey across the Andaman Sea - but the military's hardline approach in recent weeks has backfired badly, undermining the new government's attempts to restore Thailand's battered international image.




My heart just broke after reading this story.....so sad