A humanitarian disaster looms as thousands of migrants remain stranded at sea, while authorities in Southeast Asian nations refuse to take them in.
The scale of the crisis is still unknown. No organization, from the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to Rohingya rights groups, knows how many boats there are. The number of migrants stranded aboard these ships, however, is estimated to be in the thousands.
Despite a plea from U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, urging Southeast Asian leaders to uphold "international law" and "the obligation of rescue at sea," Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia are refusing to accept the "boat people" -- men, women and children who remain on ships, with rapidly dwindling provisions.
Thailand supplied them with food and water in the middle of last week, the last confirmed resupply.
CNN understands that the ships, which remain at sea, are trying to elude patrols and the refugees are effectively being held prisoner by their smugglers. Official sources, who have requested not to be named, say the smugglers may be telling people they can only accept landing rights in Malaysia as the smugglers are possibly Thai and wish to avoid what has become a very high-profile issue.
Thailand will host a regional conference on May 29, along with three-way meetings this week between the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, where the issue will be high up on the agenda.
We take a look at the latest situation around the region.
Myanmar is home to a large Rohingya population, particularly in Rakhine state, in the west of the country.
Clashes in 2012 between the state's Buddhist community and Rohingya Muslims, a long-oppressed linguistic and ethnic minority in this majority Buddhist country, left hundreds dead and more than 140,000 people homeless.
The United Nations estimates more than 100,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar by sea since ethnic and sectarian violence erupted.
The government has forcibly segregated Rohingya from the rest of the population in Rakhine state. They live confined in enclaves -- rural ghettos, in effect -- from which they are not allowed to leave. The government refuses to recognize them as a legitimate ethnic group and as citizens of Myanmar.
Those who have the means to leave do so by perilous sea journey. They are taken out on small boats to cargo ships by smugglers, mostly bound for Malaysia.
The government has said it will not participate in Thailand's regional conference on May 29. Zaw Htay, a director in the office of Myanmar President Thein Sein, told CNN: "We will not participate in the discussions next week if the name 'Rohingya' is mentioned.
"If we recognize the name, then they will think they are citizens of Myanmar... Myanmar cannot take all the blame for these people who are now at sea. We need long term issues and you can't just explain it by saying Myanmar is the source of the problem. A long term solution is needed."
Between 7,000 (official figure) and 300,000 (U.N. estimate) Rohingya migrants live in neighboring Bangladesh, many in U.N.-operated or illegal camps on the other side of the Bangladeshi-Myanmar border, but they are unable to work in the country and live in truly deplorable conditions.
The plight of the Rohingya currently abandoned at sea is exacerbated by the presence of Bangladeshi economic migrants in their midst. While many, including the UNHCR, see the Rohingya as legitimate refugees fleeing persecution, the Southeast Asian nations refusing to allow the ships cite the presence of economic migrants as a reason to refuse them refuge.
Matthew Smith of Fortify Rights, a non-profit human rights organization based in Southeast Asia, says that the Southeast Asian governments have the wherewithal to track and find them, but simply don't want to.
"Governments in the region are playing human ping-pong, pushing boats back out to sea while claiming to crackdown on human trafficking," he said. "All governments have a responsibility to protect survivors of trafficking and asylum seekers. No government can credibly claim to be combating trafficking while simultaneously creating a ready pool of desperate and insecure people at sea."
In the Andaman Sea, aboard a fishing vessel searching Thai waters for vessels carrying refugees, a CNN crew saw several Thai navy vessels on patrol.
Kraiwut Chusakul, a local fisherman, said he's seen one of the many boats filled with Rohingya refugees. "There are so many children on the boat," he said. "I think there must have been around 100 small children."
The boat Kraiwut saw hasn't been seen since, and despite searching and asking other fishing boats if any refugee ships had been spotted, the CNN crew also turned up a blank.
"I feel so sorry for them," Kraiwut said. "It's so different to when you see these refugees on land, and the conditions are so terrible."
Late last week, residents on Koh Lipe Island in southern Thailand could be seen collecting food, water and clothes to take to the migrants on board the boats, but since then the military has told them not to take supplies out to the boats, or to talk to journalists about the situation.
Fortify told CNN that patrol ships stay ahead of those searching for these ships, chasing them out of territorial waters, so journalists and rights groups cannot get a clear understanding of the situation.
The country will host trilateral talks between the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand this week in an attempt to resolve the current impasse, and will again host a larger meeting of ASEAN nations on May 29.
Between 7,000 (official figure) and 300,000 (U.N. estimate) Rohingya migrants live in neighboring Bangladesh, many in U.N.-operated or illegal camps on the other side of the Bangladeshi-Myanmar border, but they are unable to work in the country and live in truly deplorable conditions.
The plight of the Rohingya currently abandoned at sea is exacerbated by the presence of Bangladeshi economic migrants in their midst. While many, including the UNHCR, see the Rohingya as legitimate refugees fleeing persecution, the Southeast Asian nations refusing to allow the ships cite the presence of economic migrants as a reason to refuse them refuge.
Matthew Smith of Fortify Rights, a non-profit human rights organization based in Southeast Asia, says that the Southeast Asian governments have the wherewithal to track and find them, but simply don't want to.
"Governments in the region are playing human ping-pong, pushing boats back out to sea while claiming to crackdown on human trafficking," he said. "All governments have a responsibility to protect survivors of trafficking and asylum seekers. No government can credibly claim to be combating trafficking while simultaneously creating a ready pool of desperate and insecure people at sea."
In the Andaman Sea, aboard a fishing vessel searching Thai waters for vessels carrying refugees, a CNN crew saw several Thai navy vessels on patrol.
Kraiwut Chusakul, a local fisherman, said he's seen one of the many boats filled with Rohingya refugees. "There are so many children on the boat," he said. "I think there must have been around 100 small children."
The boat Kraiwut saw hasn't been seen since, and despite searching and asking other fishing boats if any refugee ships had been spotted, the CNN crew also turned up a blank.
"I feel so sorry for them," Kraiwut said. "It's so different to when you see these refugees on land, and the conditions are so terrible."
Late last week, residents on Koh Lipe Island in southern Thailand could be seen collecting food, water and clothes to take to the migrants on board the boats, but since then the military has told them not to take supplies out to the boats, or to talk to journalists about the situation.
Fortify told CNN that patrol ships stay ahead of those searching for these ships, chasing them out of territorial waters, so journalists and rights groups cannot get a clear understanding of the situation.
The country will host trilateral talks between the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand this week in an attempt to resolve the current impasse, and will again host a larger meeting of ASEAN nations on May 29.
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