Thai official says upsurge of boat people 'alarming'

Thailand's foreign minister said on Friday that the upsurge of boat people in Southeast Asia has reached an "alarming level", and urged governments in the region to address the root causes of the crisis, a reference to the swelling number of refugees who have fled persecution in Myanmar.

Speaking at the opening of a regional meeting in Bangkok aimed at tackling the issue, Foreign Minister Thanasak Patimaprakorn said, "No country can solve this problem alone."

But Htin Linn, Myanmar's acting director of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, criticized those who blame his country for causing the crisis, saying "finger-pointing" would not help.

The regional meeting came the same day that Myanmar's navy seized a boat packed with 727 people off the country's southern coast.

The nationality of the people on the boat was unclear. Myanmar's Ministry of Information described them as "Bengalis", using the term the government uses to describe the country's Rohingya minority as well as immigrants from Bangladesh.

Asian nations have been struggling in the face of growing waves of migrants who are landing on the shores of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. In the last few weeks alone, at least 3,000 people have washed ashore or been rescued by fishermen, and several thousand more are believed to still be at sea after human smugglers abandoned boats amid a regional crackdown.

Some are Bangladeshis who left their impoverished homeland in hope of finding jobs abroad. But many are minority Rohingya Muslims who have fled persecution in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, which has denied them citizenship and basic rights, and confined more than 100,000 to camps. There are more than 1 million Rohingya living in Myanmar.

Friday's meeting includes representatives from 17 countries directly and indirectly affected by crisis, as well as others such as the United States and Japan, and officials from international organizations such as the UN refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration.

"The influx of irregular migrants in the Indian Ocean has reached an alarming level," Thanasak told attendees. But "while we are trying to help those in need, we must stop the outflow of irregular migrants and combat transnational crime and destroy their networks".

He also added: "The root causes that motivated these people to leave must also be addressed."

Malaysia and Indonesia agreed last week to provide migrants with shelter. Indonesia will allow Rohingya to stay for a year, while Bangladeshis will be repatriated. It is unclear what happens after a year, and both countries have urged the international community to help with resettlement options.

Thailand has offered humanitarian help, but not shelter. More than 100,000 refugees, mostly from Myanmar's other ethnic groups, have been living in border camps for decades, and Thailand says it cannot afford any more.

AP - Reuters

(China Daily 05/30/2015 page11)