Thailand Calls for the Condemnation of All Attacks on Southern Teachers

(04/01/2013)

Thailand has called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to condemn violent attacks on teachers in the southern border provinces. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul has sent a letter to OIC Secretary-General Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu concerning violence against southern teachers. The letter, dated 28 December 2012, stated that during the past six weeks in the deep South, perpetrators had killed five teachers and wounded another three. They had also set two schools on fire. Human Rights Watch Asia strongly condemned the attacks and called on the insurgents to immediately end all attacks on teachers and schools. It said that insurgents in southern Thailand who executed teachers showed utter depravity and disregard for humanity. These attacks harmed not only teachers and schools, but also the Muslim students, their families, and the broader Muslim community the insurgents claimed to represent. The Thai government has stepped up security measures to increase protection for teachers and ensure that local students would be able to have access to education on a continual basis, without fear of any dangers. It pledged to do everything possible to bring wrongdoers to justice for punishment in accordance with the judicial process. The Government attaches urgent priority to resolving the situation in the southern border provinces, and has constructively engaged and cooperated with the OIC on this issue. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana said that security personnel, the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center, the Ministry of Education, and the Confederation of Teachers of Southern Border Provinces are working together on security measures for southern teachers. A number of graduate volunteers have been recruited to help teach students and conduct school activities in Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, and four districts of Songkhla. Mr. Phongthep said that the project would help ease the shortage of teaching personnel in the deep South, which has been affected by unrest since 2004. These graduate volunteers would also play a role in strengthening relations between local schools and students through various activities. The southern unrest erupted nine years ago, when a group of perpetrators on 4 January 2004 launched raids on a military camp in Narathiwat, attempting to attack authorities, seize government firearms, and instigate instability. Following the arms theft, the three southern border provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat, and some districts of Songkhla, became the scenes of continuing violence. A number of teachers were killed and local schools were also set on fire by a network of perpetrators.