UN to interview Muslims who fled

Kuala Lumpur _ The UN refugee agency said yesterday that its officers will interview 131 Thai Muslims detained in Malaysia last week after they entered the country illegally to flee the violence in southern Thailand. The Muslims, including 43 children, were taken into custody on Wednesday by Malaysian police in the border state of Kelantan. They said they feared persecution by Thai security forces, who have been accused of targeting Muslims in their bid to quell an insurgency in the deep South.Volker Turk, the Malaysian representative with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said in a statement that officers will be sent to Kelantan this week to meet with the Thais in cooperation with local authorities.
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