14-year-old girl still missing in Pattani, Thailand

October 15, 2009

WCRP: A fourteen-year-old Mon girl named Mi Mar Win (name changed for security purposes), from the city of Pattani in Thailand’s Pattani Province, has been missing since October 3rd, the girl’s cousin claims. Mi Mar Win migrated with her family to Pattani from Ye Township in Burma.

Mi Mar Win’s cousin reported to WCRP that Mi Mar Win has not been seen since 2:30 pm on October 3rd, when she left her family’s home in on Yoyo street (Soi Yoyo) in Pattani to go to a nearby market to purchase chicken-roast. Mi Mar Win’s cousin went on to inform WCRP that t about 4:30 pm on October 3rd, Mi Mar Win’s parents began searching for her after her absence threatened to make her late for her evening work shift. When Mi Mar Win still failed to return after sunset, her parents began searching their neighborhood and the nearby market where their daughter had been headed, but their searches proved to be fruitless.

According to the same cousin interviewed by WCRP, a member of an Indian migrant family living next door informed Mi Mar Win’s concerned family that he thought he’d heard Mi Mar Win crying at a house eight houses down their street. However when questioned, the house mentioned denied having seen the missing child.

The local Thai police force has also proved to be unhelpful in finding Mi Mar Win, due to her status as an illegal worker.

“The Thai Police explained that they can’t find the victim because she has no work-ID, and if she if she had work-ID they could find her. After learning this, the victim’s mother told us about the problem here at Rat Thai [a local migrant NGO]. We shared the photos with the soldiers and other organizations,” a Rat Thai member in Pattani told WCRP.

“For sure, in my opinion a gang or group of bad characters pulled her from the road, because it is impossible good people have her, maybe drunk men or drug addicts. We have no information about her, but we are still looking,” Mi Mar Win’s cousin added.

Mi Mar Win has been employed as a migrant worker at FPI pocket-fish factory in Pattani for six months. According to her aunt and cousin, she and her family moved to Thailand from Ye Township after their family timber business incurred a large amount of debt.

A 20 year-old female Mon migrant worker, who has lived in the area for two years, claims that high crime levels in the region make Pattani particularly dangerous for female migrant workers.

“It is unsafe and very dangerous for the women here; we don’t dare to go out with just two women. If we have more than 3 women we do go out together,” claimed a second woman, a 27-year-old female Mon migrant worker in Pattani.

Mi Mar Win has now been missing for nearly two weeks; the search for her is ongoing.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News