. ♪ not just thailand, but northern thailand. once known as kingdom of a million rice fields, it's a fertile, green and gorgeous area, home of the ancient lanna people. welcome to chiang mai province, tucked up near the borders of burma, china, laos, india not too far away. all of them have left their mark on the food. >> here's the local hootch. lao khao. >> and if you're eating here, chances are, you're also drinking. >> compared to the stuff we had this morning, this is substantially more harsh, i would say. and less fragrant. >> the village of mae wang. in this place it's called hin tang. how did you find this place? we're in the middle of nowhere. >> it's a very popular place. >> a restaurant showcasing one of the distinguishing elements of northern thai cuisine, the heavy use of animal protein. >> you see the local people, they're lining up. here in northern thailand, pig reigns supreme. most of the stuff we're eating here is made out of pig. >> what did you order? >> grilled pig tail. >> that sounds superb. >> yep. then we

their vessel was joined by others off the coast of thailand. amin says they were transferred to one boat. >> translator: there were so many people on the boat, we couldn't even sit down. >> reporter: with no country offering help, the migrants were forced to drift at sea. many died on board. >> translator: we were running out of food. we got into fights with the other passengers. my friend drowned when he was hit and pushed into the sea. >> reporter: amin drifted at sea for three months before the boat sunk. he barely survived the ordeal, but his two sisters are still missing. he can't help being pessimistic when he thinks about the future. >> translator: where can we go? we will be killed if we return to myanmar. >> reporter: the immigration authorities are struggling to deal with the huge number of people heading for the country's shore. >> translator: all foreigners entering indonesia must have the correct legal documents. migrants arriving in boats can only go to third countries or return to their homelands. >> reporter: lives are still bei

that is indonesia and malaysia, not thailand. thailand will offer aid but no shelter. indonesia and malaysia are saying, look, doing our bit, we let them in. we'll keep them for a year. but the international community must help. and so that's, that end we have heard from the united states so far saying they will do their best. reviewing the situation. and of course, where they now want to see, indonesia, malaysia, other countries saying, okay, we are ready to take these people in. errol, rosemary. >> we can't ignore myanmar today saying it is still unsure if it will participate in any upcoming meetings on this. mig many migrants, fleeing persecution there. myanmar will be central to the solution. can they afford to keep ignoring talks when you kid the u.s. is pressing them to participate in all of this? >> frankly, errol, they have been ignoring talks for decade now. this situation has been going on for many, many years. there has been cnn coverage of this years years about the persian cushithe persecution of the rohingya people. myanmar does not recognize these people

others head to thailand where they often fall prey to thailand or countries promising a future to australia. >> reporter: it's a stretch of land at the tail end of thailand as it meets malaysia. it's rugged raw and beautiful. but the jungles hide something sinister. camps run by human trafficker holding rohingya, who were looking for a better life. last month a grave was found holding hundreds. this man is from the rohingya heartland, and spent 4.5 months in camps and saw two dozen die. they have been living in a mosque >> translation: there were people killed by beatings i saw them die. i saw them wash and bury the bodies, and i performed burials. >> reporter: the camps are home to hundreds of people asking for more money to pay the traffickers. everyone has to pay. if you don't if you can't, you are subject to beatings depravation of food and water. >> on sunday thai authorities launched an operation in eight areas, putting more than 100 police and soldiers in the jungle with one purpose, to find the camps. >> this patrol this is an area they came across in the morning. they believe hours

state department in june. >>> and we want to go live in bangkok, thailand. how much pressure is thailand starting to feel right now to do something about these fishermen who are not being recognized as victims of trafficking? can we expect to see any changes given thailand wants to manipulate these numbers to show fewer victims of slave labor? >> reporter: rosemary, i think pressure is the operative word here, and pressure really is building up on thailand. at home in particular as these pictures are shown on domestic television and abroad as well, as we've started to expose it on the freedom project here. and the thing is that we do seem to be seeing two very contradictory responses from the thai government. on the one hand, prompted into action as we've been discussing since yesterday, since the beginning of april, they're going to start to implementing measures like gps, vms to monitor ships, but in the meantime, so many victims not being recognized. and this intention to at least publicly show that, lao beiook,e handling trafficking before they're starti

a former thailand prime minister plead not guilty to negligence and yingluck shinawatra left court on bail and failing for corruption to a scheme that lost thailand billions of dollars and supporters say charges have been made up to damage her family. meanwhile promises of return to democracy in thailand are called in question after the general election in february may be delayed by six months. thailand's military leader says they postpone for a new referendum on a new constitution and they say it's to stop the winn winn family winning back power. u.n. regular si will help may leesha with a migrant crisis for thousands at sea and 2000 people including women and children are at risk of starvation for more than 40 days trapped on boats off myanmar and they are refusing to accept the migrants. thailand police say suspected king pin of a major trafficking network turned himself in and we have more from southern thailand. >> reporter: this is the peer and many businesses rounds here are owned by a former politician a man known as this and he is the key suspect in human trafficking here. no

he went to thailand. he saw firsthand. well not a lot of options for us to be able to find other supply chains and keep our pricing objective. there is no doubt everyone knows what is going on. just the fact that no one is willing to pay for a system that allows people to be paid fairly and to work freely. >> well, we have known and we have seen in the past people who really are aware of these situations have boycotted products. we may see some sort of situation there ahead. depend how much traction this story gets across the globe. maybe thanks, for joining us. making us aware of some of this. >> thank you very much for covering the topic. >> former captives like the ones you heard about face a long transition to a there mall life. many activists say governments are not making it any easier. when our project series continues tuesday. that it comes down to how ex-slaves are viewed by countries like thailand. >> reporter: we contacted the police officials involved in taking the fishermen's statements. two officers told cnn

thailand says it will allow the u.s. to fly surveillance planes from its territory to identify migrant boats. >>> fifa boss sepp blatter is refuse to go resign despite the deepening crisis at football's governing body. blatter says he's not responsible for the corruption scandal which saw sefo visuals arrested in zurich on wednesday. and he still has majority support to be reelected as fifa president for a fifth term on friday. >>> car bombs at two hotels in the iraqi capital baghdad have killed at least 10 people. 30 others remember injured. police say the attacks appear to be coordinated. >>> to the war in yemen at least 40 houthi rebels have been killed in the southern city of aden. residents were forced to flee their homes as heavy fighting continued and air raids pounded rebel positions. the rebel strong hold in the north wasing also hit by air strikes on thursday. the war in yemen topped the agenda at the annual meeting of the organization of islamic cooperation in kuwait city. iran, turkey and saudi arabia were am

says nearly 1,000 migrants died trying to flee myanmar, as malaysia, indonesia and thailand tackle ways to handle the crisis. >>> i'm darren jordon, here in doha. also ahead - face off in burundi, police crack down on defiant protesters, the president clings to power. iraqi troops join forces with shia militias to recapture the key city of ramadi >>> we go inside aleppo in syria, where the government steps up a campaign on civilians, but the rebels are under fire >>> foreign ministers of malaysia indonesia and thailand have met to tackle the crisis from thousands of immigrants seeking reference in their countries. nearly 400 from myanmar have been brought ashore. search and rescue have seen 400] more stranded in boats, the latest among thousands who fled in the past year. let's get more from rob mcbride. we are waiting on the joint statement. what is likely to be agreed on? >> that's right. the meeting is taking place, there should have been a statement. it is overdue. according to human rights groups, a response from the nation an adequate one is long overdue. they are, of course extre

a mass grave has been found near thailand's border with thailand. police are investigating whether they are the remains of victims of human trafficking >>> a yemeni government spokesman says with no protest on the ground the exiled president will not attend talks in geneva >>> ethiopia are heading to the polls. the country's ruling party is expected to remain in power >>> a group around the world crossed the border between north and south korea on a peace march. they had setbacks on a trip aged at encouraging reconciliation between the countries, it has not stopped them describing it as a success. an historic moment for a group of peace activists crossing the border. they hoped to walk but were told at the last minute they'd have to take the bus. crossing a demilitarized zone is rarely allowed, involving a level of cooperation between two countries, which after 70 years are at war. >> personally came to north korea, with one-way ticket from beijing, we are going through seoul. we didn't think it would be possible. >> the group of 30 women come from

in the past, the rohingya used to escape by crossing overlapped through thailand. since thailand began a crack down migrants advocates say the rohingya have been traffic today indonesia and malaysia. >> reporter: stopping and searching for perpetrators and victims of human trafficking. for months this joint operation between the town and police have squeezed the business of human trafficking and people smuggling smuggling. set up in november, this anti-human trafficking checkpoint is emblematic of the thai police crack down, the point is to deny human traffickers from using thailand as a transit point on the way to their ultimate destination in malaysia. thailand's police chief has proposed camps be built for the my grand from western myanmar and bangladesh. crack down on traffickers is the main agenda at this annual meeting between the thai and malaysian police. >> translator: our continuing joint operations where matt layer an police are cared out according to internationally legal obligations and human tear i didn't know principles. >> reporter: what about the p

thailand said no they will not open their doors yet. the government says they have and will continue to provide humanitarian aid on the boats. it boils down to immigration law. if they come onshore they'll be detained until the status of each migrant is determined. are they a refugee, have they fled for economic region if they left to find work they'd be sent back. >> once they heard us explaining the laws most of them said they'd like us only to provide food and water. they don't want to get to thailand and be detained they want to go to other countries. we can't force them. this man has been a fisherman his entire life. he never met a "rock newman show", and is not mus -- a rohingya and is not muslim. >> they did not do anything wrong. not helping them is killing them. >> translation: he said they would help them they have no extra money. in this navy anyways most feel they should do more. there were strong feelings expressing the opposite voice saying rohingya should not be allowed in thailand. a facebook page was set up saying we wh

this barbed wire marks the border between thailand. it was here four weeks ago when the government started the slafrp down on human trafficking networks. this is the main artillery between the two countries. malaysian officials believe the camps they discovered recently were aband order in the last few weeks. thailand says they are digging into how the networks operated. now, their channels are cut off. >> the investigations are not moving forward very well. we have in the thai side a focus primarily on local politicians, local police some please up to the provincial level, which is a good first step but there is a lot more to be done. we expect there are probably higher level people involved in this. >> so a rubber farmer on a road that leads up to the crossing. he used to see dozens of people packed into pickup trucks pass by. >> i don't think the trafficers will dare to come back here it was happening because the government never took this seriously. now, the situation is changed. the trafficers are afraid to come back. >> they migh

. >> thailand? >> and see if i can find that product. >> i didn't want to go alone. that's what i told her. i didn't want to go alone. because it's a foreign country. >> she knew i'd been in the military. she knew i'd traveled and needed somebody to go with me. >> that's what i told kim. i remember that now. i don't mean to laugh about it. but i was really sick. >> mm-mm. i couldn't tell her all the details. because then that meant that i would have to admit to somebody that i was in the drug business. and that was not going to happen. three months previous i had a nail client who knew that i was in a really bad situation. i had $12,000 worth of debt from when i was married, and it was more than i could manage because i was a single parent working part-time, taking care of three children by myself. >> feet off of the table. >> my nail client told me that she had a friend who had some businesses and maybe her friend could give me some part-time work. >> zuna was nigerian. she carried herself like a b

and we are covering this in three countries, myanmar, thailand and malaysia. >> reporter: police in the resort town confirmed for us around a thousand migrants arrived on their shores late into the night, they consisted of the rohingya from myanmar and bangladesh and across the water in indonesia they confirmed earlier today they rescued around 400 people off the shores, if you add up the number of migrants that arrived in malaysia and indonesia in the past few days it's more than 2000 people and of course authorities are now having to deal with what they will do in malaysia we have not heard yet from the home ministry about what their plans are, but authorities in langkawi say they are going to move the thousand on rohingya and bangladesh in a complex called the shooting range until they can figure out what they will do with them and where they will take them. now afp news agency is reporting that the these boats that the migrants arrived on were abandoned by the people smugglers themselves and they were, in fact, left to their own devices to make it to shore. the concern that many

once they reach southern thailand they are held at ransom. they are transported by land to malaysia in response to a crackdown by the thai government they began abandoning the re at sea. thailand. malaysia and indonesia sparked outrage by turning away the boats from the waters. leaving thousands of rohingya trapped with little food for water. malaysia and indonesia are offering to provide temporary shelter, but the meeting and bangkok is finding a coordinated and permanent solution. >>> let's go to our correspondent in bangkok. scott heidler is live for us. what is expected from the meeting? >> first and foremost in the top agenda it as the meeting gets under way is providing help to those still out on the scene. those vulnerable migrants in the boat. that is first and foremost the agenda and they are working to coordinate that. there's 17 nations here, three observer nation the united states being one of them. iowa international office of the united nations. they are focussed on that. number two is to stop and these are longer term issues to

regional leaders are scheduled to meet on friday in thailand. they will discuss the growing problem. nhk world. >>> fierce fighting continues in iraq. government forces there are making headway to retain ramadi. islamic state militants seized the city. the troops and shia militia men are ten kilometers east of ramadi. iraqi forces have launched an attack on the northern city of baiji, a militant stronghold. they have fought with suicide attacks, driving explosive laid envehicles into government troops. joe biden has called haider al abadi to praise his force's fight against the militants and biden told abadi that the u.s. pledges its full support in iraq's efforts to liberate territory. >>> chinese officials have protests to the united states over its military reconnaissance activities in the south china sea. >> the u.s. reconnaissance activity is very dangerous and irresponsible. it could cause unexpected incidents at sea or in the air. >> the chinese foreign ministry spokesperson says that the chinese government opposed provocative acts by the

thailand has in the south it's on muslim insurgency. so they're cautious about accepting muslim refugees what that would mean for the balance of power and in the nation. they've been veriful malaysia there are a lot who live there, they're economic migrants who have been sold off as slaves and legal refugees so they don't want to have a big change. for them it's not 7000 people. if the gate opens, they're scared that 1.3 to 1.5 million who live right there as refugees, what happens if they get encouraged and come in masks and go to raid the countries. >> as you just mentioned while the governments were tkeutsdzerring, the fisherman were taking into their own hands. let's take a look at the people who were the first to offer compassion to the refugees who were adrift. >> indonesian and malaysian fisherman are acting. they have been helping the refugees. when they find people they bring them on board and give them water and food. and fairy them to shore. many of these migrants are completely exhausted. under the suspicious eyes of the aut

they are no being denied transit in thailand. because thailand is cracking down on human trafficking or people smuggling. that means there is literally nowhere safe to land. and the united nations has said that there may be as many as 8,000 people out there in boats of various sizes. this is a situation that has been brewing for years in fact, we are just seeing unprecedented numbers at the moment as tension rises politically in myanmar and, in fact in the last few hours we have had reports from the myanmar capital the presidential office officials has said that it is unlikely that myanmar will attend a summit that that has been called by thailand here in bangkok to try to address the situation comprehensively across the region. they want to look at the causes and the mechanisms and the consequences of ma is going on. that myanmar is saying, no, this is a human trafficking problem these people are not refugees. the up shot of it however, is that people are dieing out at sea and not being rescued, they are simply being pushed back

thailand has yet to recover from the civil strife. outside the courtroom in bangkok, she reiterated her innocence. supporters urged her to fight on. if found guilty, she could face up to 10 years in jail. her next court appearance is in july. >> there have been some fast-moving developments in iraq as the country musters forces to regain ramadi which has been lost to islamic state fighters. >> the white house has said it will back a multi-sectarian forced to retake the city, which means it has accepted the use of a led shia militia in that effort. ramadi is 100 kilometers from the capital baghdad. the loss with a major blow to the government. >> authorities have agreed to allow thousands of families fleeing the islamic state into the capital. security forces had been keeping them out, fearing militants might infiltrate baghdad. >> ramadi is deserted after the islamic state seized control of the city. a black flag flies over the town's main square. some iraqi troops only got out by helicopter in the very last moment. months of fighting

says nearly 1,000 migrants died trying to flee myanmar, as malaysia indonesia and thailand tackle ways to handle the crisis. >>> i'm darren jordon here in doha. also ahead - face off in burundi, police crack down on defiant protesters, the president clings to power. iraqi troops join forces with shia militias to recapture ramadi >>> the government steps up a campaign on rebel held areas, civilians are under fire >>> almost 400 "rock newman show", and bangladeshi refugees have been brought ashore. the latest group is part of a problem with thousands fleeing myanmar and bangladesh. they make their way across the andaman sea hoping to find a better life in malaysia thailand and malaysia. an emergency meeting is being held with foreign ministers. rob mcbride is in the capital. we are waiting for a joint statement from the meeting. what is the response likely to be? >> they have been meeting with ministers from the fully countries concerned. the statement is overdue. according to human rights groups, joint response a proper response is long overdue. there has been a lot of criticism which a

i'm doing this for the people of thailand. i don't intend to remain in power for the long-term. >> reporter: some people are concerned that political conflict could be reignited. a year after the military coup, thailand has still not found a path for a return to civilian rule. shoko matsumoto, nhk world, bangkok. >> the interim government was hoping to hold a parliamentary election this year but eventually postponed it until 2016 so that it could hold a national referendum on a controversial new constitution. it's becoming increasingly unclear when the country will be able to restore civilian rule. the draft constitution which enables the appointment of an unelected prime minister would also set up an electoral system designed to make it easier to reflect the views of multiple political parties. the anti-thaksin camp backed by the urban elite and establishment figures, is hoping the new constitution will help it seize political power but supporters of the former prime minister will undoubtedly react sharply to the new constitu

but thailand has refused to take in the refugees. bob mcbride has further. >> with malaysia in the chief of the navy in this part of the coastline saying four ships and three helicopters have now been assigned to the task of looking for the migrants. only when they start to make contact with those vessels that are thought to be out there will we get a real sense of just how many migrants there are likely to be wanting to come ashore. meanwhile there has been an important break through in the diplomatic side of dealing with this agreement and that is myanmar agreeing to take part in talks on this emergency crisis. there was a meeting in the malasian and indonesian foreign officials, we don't know what was said behind closed doors but we expect the talk was probably very frank and forthright, telling myanmar that it is expected to take part. it is being said to be part of the solution, almost the ambivalence of many people in myanmar to deal with this situation, with some senior officials even distancing themselves and saying it is tho

thailand as it meets malaysia. it's rugged, raw and beautiful. but these jungles hide something more sinister. camps run by human traffickers holding ethnic muslim rohingya who are looking for a better life in malaysia. last friday a mass grave containing 26 bodies. this man spent four and a half months in camps where he saw two dozen people die. he escaped and has been living in a nearby mosque for months. >> i saw people killed by beating. i watched them burying the bodies. i even performed islamic burials in the hills. >> the death is result of a scene played out in numerous camps to hundreds of people calling the families to pay more money to pay the traffickers. >> everybody has to pay. if you don't pay, if you can't pay, you're subject to beatings, you're subject to deprivation of food and water. >> on sunday thai authorities launched a new operation in eight areas. putting more than 100 police and soldiers in the jungles with one purpose. to find the camps. we traveled with some. so this patrol what they're

thailand's military government says there should be a referendum on the new constitution. elections will be decided by a proportional system. critics say it's an attempt to make it tougher for the shin that wa family to make it back to power. >>> still to come on al jazeera, protests turn violent in china over a proposed railway line. >>> i'll report on an enduring sub culture within american society, outlaw motorcycle gangs. ♪ [beeping] ooo come on everybody, i think this is my grandson. [lip syncing] ♪little girl you look so lonesome oh my goodness. ♪i see you are feeling blue ♪come on over to my place ♪hey girl ♪we're having a party happy birthday, grandma! ♪we'll be swinging ♪dancing and singing ♪baby come on over tonight >> tonight. >> i thought we were doing something good. >> bodies donated for science... >> how much regulation exists? >> very little. >> a shocking look inside the world of body brokers. >> got a call from the fbi saying we have your husband's remains. >> an america tonight exclusive investigation. tonight, 10:00 eastern. only on al

thousands of muslims have tried to reach indonesia, malaysia and thailand theater when thailand crackdown, people resorted to boats. on wednesday buddhist monks and demonstrators protested against the u.n. and western governments who have criticized the treatment. myanmar say the revenge of our stateless migrants. boats packed with migrants. only now with international pressure mounting is the government promising action. many in bangkok say the only solution is for the country to recognize and start protecting its minorities. anchor: as long as they are a stateless and persecuted minority many will flee to try to find a better life elsewhere. >> they typically end up in thailand. we learn more about their daily plight . reporter: every morning brothers come here to stock up on fresh ingredients for their street food carts. this is not their real names, and they don't want to show their faces on camera. the two men are refugees. they fled their home on the border to bangladesh, seeking refuge in thailand illegally. his brother arrived in 2013. like many other, many others -- like many oth

when it comes to dealing with the media, thailand's leader is barking out the order. nepalese have an issue with the coverage of the earthquake it's with their neighbours in india, and the growing world of p.r. and an effect on a newsroom in los angeles. talk about perilous assignments for journalists and the first countries that come to mind are syria, ukraine and somalia and iraq. it's a burial ground in 2003, and it remains one of the most danger countries to report from. conditions are growing worse. another reporter was killed on world press freedom day when a car bomb that i.s.i.l. claimed possibility for took the life. he was with the institute pore war and peace. net parker fled the country after his life was threatened. the threats did not come from the i.s.i.l. side of the border. the journalist was reported. reason enough in iraq to pack bags in head to the airport. leaving is not on option. journalist are caught between factions competing for power. all the stories that thu we report bud don't. the starting point it baghdad. >>> journalists continue to fac

>>> migrants stranded, off the coast of the thailand. >>> land fall in the indonesia after being rescued by fishermen >>> three generals are arrested in an attempt to have a coun. >>> president barak obama tries to assure countries about the iran nuclear deal. >>> southeast asia is facing a migrant crisis, hundreds are being rejected by governments in the region. >>> now this, update. >>> in a dramatic operation they dropped food parcels and fuel to help avert 300 or so migrants from bang floridaer and were identified on a boat. it looked like humanitarian assistance. but at the same time, they denied the boat the ability to land on the thailand territory and, pulled them back out to international waters, this is a short-term solution, and what they want to do, is show that it is very serious about cracking down on human trafficking because it wants to improve the record. it is in the bottom most tier when it comes to the trafficking but what's happening to the actual people, involved, is that they are stuck out at sea being pushed away by malaysia, and by indonesia, and a few people do

human smugglers likely detained them en route to malaysia via thailand. the police chief said they arrested the mayor on friday. he called the mayor a key suspect. he promised a thorough investigation into allegations that police officers were involved. rohingyan muslims are denied citizenship in myanmar. deadly clashes with members of the buddhist majority erupted three years ago. the u.n. estimates more than 80,000 rohingyas have fled or been smuggled out of myanmar. the u.s. government called on the thai government to carry out a speedy inquiry into the mass graves. human rights groups are urging thailand to crack down on human traffickers. faced with growing international criticism, the prime minister called on friday for a three-way meeting with malaysia airlines and myanmar to resolve the human trafficking problem. the u.n.'s refugee agency says an estimated 25,000 rohingyas boarded smugglers' boats in the first three months of 2015. that's more than twice as many as a year earlier. it estimates about 300 of them died at sea. with 180 million people

in the past they use this to escape by passing overland through thailand but since thailand began a crack down migrant advocates say the rahinga has been trafficked to malaysia and indonesia. >> mahina paid more than 2,000 dollars to save her children's lives. after her ethnic relatives were killed by soldiers. she never imagined the traffickers would starve and beat her family. holding them for ransom until her mother paid for their release. her eight-year-old son died before they could escape. >> my son was fine in the boat but fell sick when we were in the jungle due to starvation, he vomited and had diarrhea. we drank sea water as there was no drinking water in the boat. >> amina and her ser fifing children rieivelgd'arrived in can indonesia two weeks ago this week about 2,000 more were rescued off the indonesian and malasian coast hungry exhausted and frightened after their ordeal. urging national governments to take action. >> let us now come together. the country has to be open. has to be transparent. you must start having good governance. and most of all i think this can only be s

high thailand healed its political divisions? we'll have a special are sprerpblt on that. >>> the first time cuban and american wrestlers tussled in new york. it's not just the athlete knocking heads. [beeping] ooo come on everybody, i think this is my grandson. [lip syncing] ♪little girl you look so lonesome oh my goodness. ♪i see you are feeling blue ♪come on over to my place ♪hey girl ♪we're having a party happy birthday, grandma! ♪we'll be swinging ♪dancing and singing ♪baby come on over tonight [baseball crowd noise] ♪ ♪ [x1 chime] ♪ ♪ [crowd cheers] oh! i can't believe it! [cheering] hi, grandma! ♪ ♪ ♪ >>> again, you are watching al jazerra, here say reminders of our top stories isil are making more advances and taking more territory across syria. the group is trying to get control of the area between the western city of hommes in syria and el anbar poff nips province in iraq. the u.s. government is coming under criticism for its crisis to stop isil. the white house has announced it's rushing a

it's estimated 60,000 have been trafficked through thailand in the last seven months. >> human cargo is loaded into smaller boats out at sea, a few dozen in each. they then make their way up these inlet waterways. this is one of the drop-off points. they do it at night so no one can see. then they make their way to the jungle camps. some are bundled into the back of pickup trucks. others trek through national forests. if there are children in the group, it could take up to two days. this is where they end up in hidden jungle camps. this one was abandoned just hours before we arrived. in some cases, they are held for months waiting for ransom money to reach the trafficers. >> this is a group of about ten soldiers. they are going to hike up into the jungle and put barbed wire along the border between malaysia and thailand. this is the first time they have done it. they are going to stay there for a week. >> it's a remote area where people can come and go across the unmarked border. sol there are two provinces that border malaysia that the army is focused on. these operations searching

. >>> military and police officials in thailand are meeting to discuss the influx of refugees, and now more. >>> human trafficking is at the at the top of the agenda between the police chiefs. people are leaving in unprecedented numbers. >>> they are handing their lives over to human traffickers who take them on boats and trying to use thailand, as a point before hitting malaysia. >>> thailand's crackdown means they are denied and that's leading to a crisis. >>> the u.n. is saying that as many as 8,000 people could be on boats out there with little food and water and human traffickers, beat and abuse them when they are discovered. and, land. and, now authorities are saying, if any boats come into their areas they will be turned back. the u.n. is saying, it is spiraling into a crisis, the thailand prime minister will hold an international meeting towards the end of the month, in order to look at the problem in a more comprehensive way to look at the causes and the consequences. but for the people, it may be too late. >>> it's being reported that the u.s. military is considering sending

and thailand is a main staging point in this illegal business. multiple mass graves have been found, one after another in jungles in southern thailand where apparent victims of human trafficking have been buried. two boats carrying more than 400 people believed to be rohingya were rescued by local fishermen on wednesday off acheh province in western indonesia. >> translator: we got on the boat to look for a muslim country. either malaysia or indonesia. but it doesn't matter what country it is. as long as it's a muslim country. >> reporter: officials at the united nations say 4,000 people are drifting at sea and the world body is demanding a quick response to the crisis. nhk world, bangkok. >>> u.n. secretary-general, moon moon -- ban ki-moon says an invitation for him to visit an industrial site in north korea has been withdrawn. he is currently visiting south korea. he was scheduled to visit the interkorean industrial park on thursday. north korean officials told him that permission for the visit had been rescinded. >> this decision by pyongyang

they were discovered on thailand's border. florence looi has been to one of the camps and sent this report. >> reporter: in a shallow unmarked grave a forensic's team is carefully trying to unearth what is buried here. they soon find something, human remains wrapped in what was probably once a white cloth. >> translator: we're still digging up the graves. and exhuming the remains, so we still can't tell you how many bodies there are, except the ones we found today. >> reporter: the police suspect there are almost 40 graves in the area. they are likely to be migrants or refugees being trafficked into malaysia. about 200 meters from the bury site is a camp it's inhabitants long gone. authorities believe this camp has been abandoned for at least two years. you can see it was probably big enough to hold about 200 people. all around the camp there are signs that people lived here. plates crockery basins thrown into a pit. pieces of cloth that may have been surcontained and crudely built cages where trafficking syndicates kept their

, where they fall prey to smugglers. >>> it's a stretch of land at the tail end of thailand. it's rugged, raw and beautiful. but these jungles hide something more sinister. >>> camps run by human traffickers holding ethic muslims, as captive. >>> last friday, a mass grave with 26 bodies was found. >>> he spent four-and-a-half months in camps and he saw two dozen people die. he escaped and has been living in a nearby mosque for two months. >>> i saw them die. i helped wash and buried the bodies. >>> the deaths are a result of a scene that's played out to hundreds of people. call the family and asking the family for more money. >>> be has to pay if you don't pay, if you can't pay, you are subject to beatings, and to deprivation of food and water. >>> on sunday, thailand authorities, put more than 100 policemen in jungles to find the camps. >>> so this patrol, this is an area they came across in the morning, and they believe just several hours before it was occupied by traffickers. and what they're doing is destroying the material here and, that way the traffickers can't come ba

thailand. >> u.n. estimates that more than 100,000 trying to leave by boat in the past three years, so why are they so desperate to get out? a large ethnic moor norty, and they are muslims while a majority of the country is buddhist. they have faced a denial of rights freedom access to travel, and access to education. hundreds were killed and more than 140,000 were left homeless. on going discrimination has led to an exodus by sea when many tried to reach public majority countries like malaysia and indonesian. for more on the situation news president of the berm please organization in the u.k., thank you for coming to talk to us. >> thank you. >> there's a slight change of tact. over this issue of the boat people out at sea. how much difference will that make for people trying to get away from myanmar. >> you need to look at your actually why these people are threing from their native land. we can see here in the media 8,000 people are floating at sea. we node too look at that back to more than 1 milli

according to organizers, there are 20,000 in thailand, most of them up here in the northeast. many say that the reconciliation program is non-existent. >> he started the red shirt village concept and leads a million supporters. the military has questioned him three times. >> reconciliation hasn't happened at all. this is a lie. we all concede that one side is always treated badly. the general should not have been a prime minister. he said he wouldn't stage a coup, then he did. he said he didn't want any power, then he became prime minister. >> as the military government moves into its second year of rule reconciliation is just one challenge. it has again pushed back the general election schedule and it faces questions from the international community on its commitment to clamp down on human trafficking. >> this as it refused to give temporary shelter to the thousands drifting off its coast in migrant boats. back in the red shirt heartland they still wait for the day they can hold gatherings bigger than picnics and take a new generation of party leaders to the polls. scott heid

the navy has pushed boats away from thailand's coast. it has air dropped food parcels to the migrants. fishermen rescued about 800 migrants. >> reporter: this is not a rescue. the thai royal navy found this boat off of the coast. it is filled with around 380 men, women, and children from western myanmar and bangladesh. the people on board say the traffickers and the captain escaped and that they ran out of rice and water about ten days ago. they say 12 people died during the trip. >> translator: the people are starving and suffering from diarrhea. we don't have food or clean water. nothing to keep us alive. two more people over there are dying from starvation. yesterday one man jumped off the boat and drowned because he went crazy. at least ten have jumped ship. some of them made it to nearby fishing boats. >> translator: i don't have anything left. and they killed my mother and relatives. the people in the village said they were going to malaysia so i made the decision to follow them. >> reporter: a few fishing boats pulled up to provid

in the case of thailand it will take time to implement. as far as indonesia and malaysia this policy comes in effect immediately. >> indonesia and malaysia agreed to provide humanitarian sentence. to those regular migrants at sea. we agreed to offer them temporary shelter, provided the settlement and repatriation process would be done in one year by the international community >>> the statement talked about the strain endured by the three countries dealing with the migrants and called on the international community to help. many people in this part of the world will see it as a reasonable request to share the burden given the global nature of this crisis. others more critical may sense that it is a further shunning of responsibility to some degree. what is most important for the thousands that are still at sea is that from today there appears to be a refuge. >> thank you very much. that's rob mcbride on the latest developments from kuala lumpur. thank you. >> the commute to israel for palestinian workers is about to get complicated. palest

a boat crammed with around 380 people pushed away from the southern coast of thailand. the migrants say several people died and that they ran out of rice and water nearly 10 days ago, the thai navy has been dropping food parcels to them but the government won't allow them to go ashore. veronica pedroza join us with the latest. we know there are women and children on the boats how can they turn them away? they are in desperate need of food and water. >> reporter: they are doing it in the name of cracking down on human trafficking which is a big problem to thailand, particularly because it's in the bottom tier when it comes to the trafficking in persons report. which is very important and issued by the united states. i think in the next mo or so they want to show they are doing something about human trafficking. but it is, in turn, as you say causing a humanitarian crisis right across the region. we have these dramatic looking pictures of helicopters dropping food parcels to the people on the boat can swim out and get and food. get some fuel. but the fact is, that they ar