ASIA/THAILAND - The armed conflicts, which so far have caused 6000 deaths, also involve minors

Tuesday, 30 September 2014

Bangkok (Agenzia Fides) - Southern Thailand has become caught up in an escalating cycle of violence. It is easy to come across children who clean firearms and fight in the ranks of Islamist rebels. It is a reality that has already cost the lives of over 6,000 people in the last ten years. Since 2004, following the escalation of violence in the three southern provinces of Thailand - Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, governments have preferred to consider the phenomenon as a problem of internal security and keep it away from the media. "Thailand does not consider it a conflict, but simply a riot. If one accepts this reality - says the founder of the Justice for Peace Foundation (JPF) -, NGOs could offer greater protection to civilians and innocent people". About a dozen separatist groups of the three provinces of the region denounce the discrimination on behalf of the central government and demand the union of the three territories, mainly Muslims in a predominantly Buddhist Country, to create an independent Islamic State. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 30/09/2014)


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