The police have searched the house of student activists campaigning for the Deep South’s right to self-determination. The activists said they felt threatened by the authorities’ action.   

 

On Wednesday, 25 May 2016, Wartani reported that five plainclothes police officers in the southern province of Yala searched the house of members of the Federation of Patani Students and Youth (PerMAS), a prominent group of student activists based in the southern border province of Pattani who campaign for the right to self-determination of the Muslim Malay. The house used to be the office of the PerMAS group. 

 

According to Wartani, the authorities came in a car with no licence plates. They searched and took photos of the house, motorbikes, and ID cards of two students who were staying there. Wartani was asked to withhold the names of the students.

 

One activist told Wartani that the authorities have visited the house many times and have yet to find anything illegal. He added that he felt threatened and intimidated by this action by the authorities.

 

“The authorities always visit us. We don’t understand. Do we look that suspicious? Even though the authorities just search the house, it makes us feel under threat. I see it as intimidation against us,” the activist told Wartani.