Image via WikipediaPolice will continue to arrest illegal immigrants who enter the country under the guise of refugees and claim human rights protection.
The migrants, mainly from North Korea and Pakistan, are using Bangkok as a transit point to resettle in a third country.
The city is a good channel for them as it houses the Asia-Pacific office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) where they can ask for refugee status, according to immigration police.
They are also given help by human rights advocates and even foreign diplomats.
"If we don't arrest them, more illegal migrants will come to Thailand. This will lead to more crimes and human trafficking," said Phongnakhon Nakhonsantiphap, deputy chief of investigation at the Immigration Bureau.
North Koreans who illegally enter northern Thailand from Laos are reportedly helped by human trafficking gangs to initially travel to China, from where they travel in cargo boats to Laos, according to investigations by the bureau and the Internal Security Operations Command.
Once in Thailand, officials from the South Korean embassy will contact them and facilitate the last leg of travel to South Korea, which is their final destination.
However, because their entry and stay in Thailand are both illegal, the North Korean immigrants must be prosecuted in court, according to the Immigration Bureau.
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