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Missing migrant boat rescued off Indonesia Missing migrant boat rescued off Indonesia
(35 minutes later)
Migrants found by the BBC last week as they drifted off the coast of Thailand have been rescued by fishermen from Indonesia's Aceh province.Migrants found by the BBC last week as they drifted off the coast of Thailand have been rescued by fishermen from Indonesia's Aceh province.
Their boat was spotted last Thursday when it was stranded with a broken engine, but it then went missing. Their boat was first spotted on Thursday when it was stranded with a broken engine, but then went missing.
The migrants said they were starving and had been at sea for weeks after being abandoned by people smugglers. Thousands of Bangladeshi and Rohingya migrants are adrift in the Andaman Sea, some without food or water.
They have now told activists they had been towed out to sea three times by the Thai and Malaysian navies. Malaysia and Indonesia have now said they will offer migrants immediate temporary shelter.
They were among hundreds of people rescued off Indonesia on Wednesday by local people. Foreign ministers from the two countries plus Thailand have been holding emergency talks in Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur.
The migrants, mainly Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, said they had been given food and water by Thai officials. Speaking after the talks ended, Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said his country and Indonesia would stop towing the boats into other territories as navies have been doing in recent days.
Thousands of migrants are believed to have been abandoned in boats in the Andaman Sea after the Thai government launched a crack down on the routes used by people smugglers. He said we "need to assist these people" and that "because of the conditions they are experiencing we are willing to take them on to our shores".
Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia have been holding an emergency meeting to try to resolve the migrant crisis in the region. However, he said they would not actively search for migrants, only provide temporary shelter if they came ashore, and under the condition that the international community would help to repatriate or resettle them within a year.
Thailand was not part of the announcement and has not yet commented.
'Towed out'
On Wednesday, fishermen had rescued more than 400 migrants off the coast of Aceh, in northern Indonesia.
Those who came ashore said they were starving and had been at sea for weeks after being abandoned by people smugglers.
The migrants on board the abandoned ship found last week told activists they had been towed out to sea three times by the Thai and Malaysian navies.
They said had been given food and water by Thai officials.
Why has this crisis erupted?Why has this crisis erupted?
Why are so many Rohingya stranded at sea?Why are so many Rohingya stranded at sea?
Myanmar's unwanted peopleMyanmar's unwanted people