Thailand’s Yellow Shirts’ group makes appeal to the UN Secretary General for justice and protection of seven Thai nationals detained in Cambodia; Suu Kyi calls for national reconciliation; UN calls Thailand not to forcibly return Myanmar citizens;
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    • The Thailand Patriot Network Representatives submitted a letter to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki- Moon on January 1, 2011, asking for justice and protection of human rights of seven Thai nationals who are currently detained in Cambodia. The detained Thai nationals were arrested by Cambodian authorities as they allegedly intruded into their soil.1

    Reports noted that the Nobel Prize winner and pro-democracy leader of Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi called on citizens of Myanmar to work toward achieving national reconciliation. She asked the people of her country to struggle together with new strength so as to achieve the target of national reconciliation.2

    On December 28, 2010, the UN Refugee agency urged Thailand not to force Myanmarese nationals who left their country amid clashes and repeated incidents of human rights violations. This is in the light of the fact that on December 25, 2010, the Thai authorities asked the Myanmarese citizens to go back to their country.3

    India, on December 30, 2010, extended the visa-on-arrival facility to four ASEAN countries. The countries include Laos, Vietnam, the Philippines and Cambodia. The facility is available from 1 January, 2011. The facility allows the travelers single entry facility with a 30 day validity period. Starting first at the Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai airports, the VOA facility will be allowed for a maximum of twice a year with a minimum gap of two months.4

    During the 16th Home Secretary level talks between India and Myanmar, held in Delhi, the two countries ratified the mutual legal assistance treaty on criminal matters. Issues such as action against insurgent groups along the international border, strengthening of intelligence sharing mechanism, arms smuggling and drugs trafficking were also discussed during the meeting.5

    In other developments, according to a top Pakistani diplomat, Indonesia and Pakistan are joining hands in efforts to minimize the threat of terror groups in the region. Pakistani ambassador to Indonesia, on 28 December, 2010, said that the two countries are exchanging information and would create a hotline to detect possible terror attacks as early as possible and to share expertise in wiping out terrorism.6

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