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DEADLY VIOLENCE BETWEEN BUDDHISTS AND MUSLIMS IN BURMA'S RAKHINE STATE CONTINUES. SOME 2,000
MINORITY ROHINGYA MUSLIMS HAVE FLED TO NEIGHBORING THAILAND TO ESCAPE ATTACK. BUT A DEADLINE
FOR THEIR TEMPORARY STAY THERE ENDS SOON. THE ROHINGYA HAVE LIVED IN BURMA FOR DECADES,
BUT ARE DENIED CITIZENSHIP THERE AND REGARDED AS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM BANGLADESH. NOW,
REPORTS HAVE SURFACED SUGGESTING THEY ARE ALSO BEING MISTREATED IN THAILAND. REPORTER
STEVE SANDFORD SPOKE TO SOME OF THE ROHINGYA ABOUT THEIR PLIGHT AND SHARED WHAT HE LEARNED
WITH ON ASSIGNMENT'S PHILIP ALEXIOU. LET'S START WITH SOME OF STEVE'S REPORT. SINCE JANUARY,
NEARLY 2,000 BOAT PEOPLE CLAIMING TO BE ROHINGYAS FLEEING SECTARIAN VIOLENCE IN BURMA HAVE BEEN
APPREHENDED AND DETAINED BY THAI AUTHORITIES. DENIED CITIZENSHIP IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY AND
DESPERATE TO ESCAPE PERSECUTION, MANY ARE VULNERABLE TO EXPLOITATION. AHMED TILIMAN
WAS HELD CAPTIVE IN THE THAI JUNGLE WITH A GROUP OF FELLOW ROHINGYA BY TRAFFICKERS WHO
BROUGHT HIM FROM BURMA. HE WAS RELEASED AFTER HIS RELATIVES IN MALAYSIA PAID 1,500 DOLLARS
FOR HIS FREEDOM.THERE'S ROUGHLY 800 THOUSAND ROHINGYA LIVING IN RAKHINE STATE. A LOT OF
THEM HAVE BEEN LIVING THERE FOR GENERATIONS.WHO IS TAKING THEM ON THESE BOATS AND HOW BAD
ARE THE CONDITIONS ON THE BOATS AND HOW FAR AND HOW LONG ARE THESE TRIPS? THESE TRIPS
CAN LAST FOR WEEKS ON THE HIGH SEAS. THEY ARE CRAMPED BOATS, A LOT OF RICKETY OLD BOATS
THAT THESE PEOPLE ARE CRAMPED INTO. AMAHI ARECIA FROM SITTWE SAYS SHE FLED TO SEA AFTER
SOLDIERS SHOT HER TWO SONS. THERE WAS NO WATER ON THE BOAT. WE WERE DESPERATE. SOME PEOPLE
PASSED OUT, OTHERS VOMITED. I WANT TO DIE HERE. I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK. I HAVE NO FAMILY
LEFT IN SITTWE. THEY'VE ALL BEEN KILLED. IN RECENT YEARS BOAT LOADS OF MOSTLY MALE ECONOMIC
MIGRANTS FROM BANGLADESH AND BURMA HAVE MADE THEIR WAY DOWN THE COAST IN HOPES OF REACHING
PREDOMINANTLY MUSLIM MALAYSIA. THIS YEAR, WITH THE ESCALATION OF VIOLENCE IN RAKHINE
STATE MORE WOMEN AND CHILDREN ARE MAKING THE PRECARIOUS JOURNEY. THE BROKERS ARE OFTEN
RUTHLESS, THEY CHARGE A SET FEE FOR THEM AND THEY GET PICKED UP BY THAI AUTHORITIES, THEY
GET MIXED UP WITH CRIME, CRIMINAL ELEMENTS IN THAILAND AS WELL. SO, IT'S NOT A PRETTY
PICTURE. DESPITE CONDEMNATION FROM HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS AFTER FOOTAGE LIKE THIS WAS AIRED CONDITIONS
FOR THE MEN REMAINS UNCHANGED. BUT MOUNTING MEDIA REPORTS IMPLICATING THAI SECURITY AND
THE TRAFFICKING OF SOME ROHINGYA SEEMS TO HAVE GOTTEN THE ATTENTION OF TOP OFFICIALS.I
KNOW THESE ARE VERY CROWDED PLACES. THAT IS WHY WE ARE GOING TO EXPAND THE NEW CENTER
FOR THEM TO STAY. THE NEW AREA WILL BE MORE OF A WAITING CAMP. WE WILL HAVE A DOCTOR AND
MEDICAL TREATMENT AVAILABLE FOR THEM.MOST OF THE VIOLENCE HAS BEEN TARGETING THE ROHINGYA
WHICH ARE BASICALLY AND ETHNIC GROUP IN BURMA THAT HAVE NOT BEEN RECOGNIZED SINCE 1982,
THERE WAS A CITIZENSHIP ACT IMPLEMENTED BY THE BURMESE REGIME, BASICALLY STRIPPING THEM
OF THEIR NATIONALITY AND THEIR CITIZENSHIP. WHAT WAS THE REASON BEHIND THAT? GOOD QUESTION.
THERE'S BEEN RACIAL TENSION BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS THAT'S BEEN GOING ON FOR DECADES. THE
BUDDHISTS ARE STRONGLY NATIONALISTS I GUESS, AND PERHAPS THEY SAW THE ROHINGYA AS A THREAT.
THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF ETHNIC TENSION BETWEEN THE BUDDHISTS BURMESE AND THE OTHER ETHNIC
GROUPS WITHIN THE COUNTRY AS WELL. SO IS THIS TENSION MORE ETHNIC DISCRIMINATION OR IS IT
MORE RELIGIOUS OR A COMBINATION OF BOTH? I THINK IT WOULD BE A COMBINATION OF BOTH. IT'S
SECTARIAN VIOLENCE THAT'S BEEN OCCURRING. IT ORIGINATED YEARS AGO, BUT IN JUNE THERE
WERE ATTACKS IN RAKHINE STATE ON THE ROHINGYA POPULATION. SINCE THAT TIME THE ATTACKS HAVE
EXPANDED TO THE MUSLIM SECTORS OF BURMA...A LOT OF ANTI-ISLAMIC PROPAGANDA THAT HAS BEEN
INSTIGATED BY CERTAIN GROUPS IN BURMA. WHAT IS YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE LIKE WHEN YOU'RE
TALKING TO THESE PEOPLE. THEY DON'T REALLY HAVE ANYWHERE TO GO, IT SEEMS LIKE NOBODY
WANTS THEM.EXACTLY, THEY ARE VERY DESPERATE. BACK IN BURMA, THEY ARE BEING SEGREGATED,
THEY ARE BEING PUT INTO IDP CAMPS FAR AWAY FROM THE TOWNS. I WAS THERE LAST NOVEMBER
AND THINGS HAVE GOTTEN A LOT WORSE IN TERMS OF THE WEATHER. THE RAINY SEASON HAS SET IN
SO THERE IS A LOT OF AREAS, A LOT OF CAMPS THAT ARE UNDER WATER RIGHT NOW. THERE HAS
BEEN MORE AID AND ACCESS DELIVERED INTO THE AREA BUT AT THE SAME TIME BECAUSE OF THE WEATHER
THERE'S GOING TO BE A LOT MORE SICKNESS AND A LOT OF HEALTH ISSUES I THINK. AND YEAH,
THEY ARE JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHO WILL TAKE THEM. THE ROHINGYA -- STILL STRUGGLING
TO FIND A PLACE TO CALL HOME. THE UNITED NATIONS CALLS THE GROUP ONE OF THE MOST PERSECUTED
MINORITIES IN THE WORLD. OUR THANKS AGAIN TO REPORTER STEVE SANDFORD IN THAILAND.