Thailand is holding 128 Tamil migrants for possible deportation even though some have registered with the United Nations as asylum seekers, authorities said in Bangkok Wednesday.
"I would like to commend the Thai authorities for their recent successful action to help interdict apparent human smuggling. We do know that that country has been a transit point for the very dangerous exploitation that is represented by the criminal syndicates running the human smuggling business," said Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. "We resettle more refugees than any other country in the world on a per capita basis," Kenney said.
And "we receive more immigrants than any other developed country but we will not tolerate the systematic violation of our immigration laws or the fairness of our immigration system by exploitive human smugglers," Kenney said.
Thai police originally arrested 155 people, but some were freed because they were able to present valid travel documents, said Colonel Worawat Amornwiwat, a spokesman for the immigration service.
"These people are minority Tamils fleeing war in their country and seeking asylum through the UN. But they came to Thailand with tourist visas, allowing them to stay only 60 days, and they overstayed," he said in Bangkok.
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