Rohingya News Agency-(NNT) – Authorities have so far recaptured 15 of the 36 Rohingya migrants who escaped from the detention center at the immigration office in Phuket province.

Police Colonel Sanchai Chokkhayaikit, head of Phuket Immigration Police, said 21 Rohingyas remained at large. Officials are tracking down the rest of the Rohingyas, who escaped from a detention room in the early morning of August 10. The Rohingyas are believed to be hiding near mosques and Muslim communities. According to accounts of the arrested Rohingyas, residents of some Muslim communities provided food and clothing for the escaped Rohingya migrants because they had sympathy for the Rohingyas, who shared their own faith. Others have fled into hiding inside mangrove forests.

The Rohingyas who fled will be subject to no more than 1 month imprisonment, a fine not exceeding 1,000 baht; or both.

A committee has also been set up to determine whether the officials on duty at the time of the escape neglected their duty the day the escape took place.