YANGON (AFP)--A senior Myanmar official on Thursday denied that migrants from the Muslim Rohingya ethnic group, who have arrived by boat in Thailand claiming abuse at home, originate from Myanmar.
Human rights groups have said the Rohingya come from western Myanmar, often fleeing persecution by the country's junta.
However, the official said they originate from Bangladesh and have no historical connection with Myanmar.
"There is no so-called Rohingya ethnic minority group in our history before or after our independence," said the official, who refused to be named as he wasn't authorized to speak to media.
"It is totally unacceptable to say the Rohingya are from Myanmar," he said.
Thailand has been accused of mistreating up to 1,000 Rohingya migrants, hundreds of whom were rescued off India and Indonesia last month and claimed they had been beaten by Thai soldiers and towed back out to sea.
The issue has drawn attention to the Rohingya, who are believed to number about 700,000 in Myanmar but who have long been denied citizenship and face religious persecution as well as poverty, rights groups have said.
Another 78 migrants were detained this week after arriving by boat in Thailand, supposedly from Myanmar. They await deportation.
Local media carried pictures of some of the men with welts on their backs, and the Bangkok Post newspaper reported that the migrants said they were caned by Myanmar authorities and threatened with death if they returned.
The Myanmar official, however, said such reports were untrue.
"These so-called Rohingyas are Bangladeshis who left their state for a better life, trying to get sympathy from Western countries by claiming to be Rohingyas from Myanmar," he said.
"(It's) not our problem," he said. "It's the problem of Bangladesh."
Myanmar - ruled by the military since 1962 - is a predominantly Buddhist country but is also home to more than 135 different ethnic groups, some of whom are Christian and Muslim.
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR has requested access to any Rohingyas arriving in Thailand, saying there are legitimate concerns that some could face persecution in Myanmar.
The Thai foreign ministry on Wednesday categorically denied reports it had mistreated any migrants.
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Publié le 29 janvier 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones