APPALLING CONDITIONS
CAMPS FOR ASIATICS THOUSANDS OF DEATHS BANGKOK, Sept. 24. Sixteen thousand Allied prisoners of war and at least 20,000 Asiatic slaves died building the Burma-Siam railway. Thirty thousand more slaves are missing, with no explanation from the Japanese except that “they must have run away.” It is estimated that 50,000 Allied prisoners of war were forced to work on the railway. The number of Malayans employed is estimated at 75,000. Some of these were “ shanghaied ” and others were persuaded to go to Siam by the promises of good food and money.
Experts believe there is probably some truth in the Japanese claim that 30.000 ran away, but many must have perished from starvation and disease. The conditions in the camps for Asiatics were appalling. Cholera deaths in one period averaged 200 a day. It will be months before the suffering of the Asiatics in these camps can be alleviated.
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Otago Daily Times, Issue 25958, 26 September 1945, Page 5
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151APPALLING CONDITIONS Otago Daily Times, Issue 25958, 26 September 1945, Page 5
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