AFP
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Wednesday it had permission ‎from Thailand to access some 850 people, many thought to be from Myanmar's Rohingya minority, ‎held after raids on hidden camps in Thailand's far South. ‎

Hundreds of migrants have been arrested in the past week in police sweeps on remote areas in ‎rubber plantations in Songkhla province near the border with Malaysia, leading the UNHCR to seek to ‎confirm whether any of them plan to seek asylum. ‎

‎"The Thai authorities have agreed in principle to give us access to this group," Vivian Tan, ‎spokeswoman for the UNHCR office, told AFP. ‎

‎"There are likely to be Rohingya among them, but we can't confirm their identity without us first talking ‎to them and doing a preliminary assessment." ‎

She said no date had been agreed yet, but that the UN was pushing to do the interviews "as soon as ‎possible". ‎

Thousands of Muslim-minority Rohingya have fled communal unrest in Myanmar's western state of ‎Rakhine, heading to Thailand and other countries. ‎

Clashes between Buddhists and Muslims have left at least 180 people dead in the state since June, ‎and displaced more than 110,000 others, mostly Rohingya. ‎

Myanmar views the roughly 800,000 Rohingya in Rakhine as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and ‎denies them citizenship. ‎

The UN, which has called Rohingya one of the world's most persecuted peoples, has urged ‎Myanmar's neighbours to open their borders to people escaping the communal violence. ‎

Although tensions have eased since a fresh outbreak of killings in October, concerns have grown ‎about the fate of asylum-seekers setting sail in overcrowded boats. ‎

Thailand has faced pressure from rights groups to do more to help Rohingya migrants who reach its ‎territory. The country has been accused of pushing them into neighbouring countries including ‎Malaysia, which offers them sanctuary. ‎

Human Rights Watch has said women and children are increasingly among the boatloads of ‎Rohingya fleeing Myanmar.‎