On Friday, Thai authorities announced that they would deport roughly 700 members of the embattled, Rohingya ethnic minority who were found to have entered Thailand illegally.
According to the Associated Press, police Maj. Col. Thanusin Duangkaewngam announced the deportations following a pair of raids, one of which revealed Rohingya hiding in a warehouse, the other of which revealed a group of close to 397 refugees hiding on the grounds of a rubber plantation. Both raids took place in Thailands southern Songkla province.
Police also arrested eight, suspected human traffickers, believed to have been transporting the Rohingya.
Activists have pressured the Thai government to offer asylum to the Rohingya, who face ongoing prosecution in both Myanmar and Bangladesh.
