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Indonesia and Malaysia Agree to Care for Stranded Migrants Indonesia and Malaysia Agree to Care for Stranded Migrants
(about 3 hours later)
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia and Malaysia agreed Wednesday to take in thousands of migrants stranded at sea until they can be sent home or resettled in a third country, in the first official action by Southeast Asian nations to try to resolve a crisis well into its second week.JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia and Malaysia agreed Wednesday to take in thousands of migrants stranded at sea until they can be sent home or resettled in a third country, in the first official action by Southeast Asian nations to try to resolve a crisis well into its second week.
Responding to international pressure to save the migrants, many of whom have been adrift in rickety boats for weeks with little food or water, the agreement by Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand was a potential lifesaver. It reverses the previous position of those governments, whose navies had been pushing boatloads of desperate migrants away from their shores in what international aid groups characterized as a dangerous game of human Ping-Pong. Responding to international pressure to save the migrants, many of whom have been adrift in rickety boats for weeks with little food or water, the agreement by Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand was a potential lifesaver even as experts said it offered only a temporary fix to deeper problems.
It reverses the previous position of those governments, whose navies had been pushing boatloads of desperate migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar away from their shores in what international aid groups characterized as a dangerous game of human Ping-Pong.
“It’s extremely welcome news,” said Joe Lowry, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration in Bangkok. “It’s the right thing to do. They should get the helicopters and planes and boats out there to look for these people.”“It’s extremely welcome news,” said Joe Lowry, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration in Bangkok. “It’s the right thing to do. They should get the helicopters and planes and boats out there to look for these people.”
The announcement, after a meeting of the foreign ministers of the three countries in Malaysia, came as fishermen on the Indonesian island of Sumatra rescued at least 370 migrants from sinking ships and brought them ashore. Those migrants included passengers from a boat that was spotted by journalists adrift in the Andaman Sea near Thailand and Malaysia last Thursday. But in a sign of the underlying problems that remained, the migrants’ home countries, Bangladesh and Myanmar, did not participate in the talks in Malaysia on Wednesday. And Thailand, which has been a way station for the migrants and until recently a haven for traffickers, did not agree to take in any migrants.
An estimated 7,000 to 8,000 migrants are still at sea, many of them abandoned by traffickers after a recent crackdown by Thailand on human smuggling. An additional 3,500 migrants — economic migrants from Bangladesh seeking jobs and ethnic Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar — have landed in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, or been rescued offshore, since May 10. Many of them are women and young children. The agreement came as fishermen on the Indonesian island of Sumatra rescued at least 370 migrants from sinking ships and brought them ashore. Those migrants included passengers from a boat that was spotted by journalists adrift in the Andaman Sea near Thailand and Malaysia last Thursday.
In the agreement announced Wednesday, Indonesia and Malaysia said they would “provide humanitarian assistance to those 7,000 irregular migrants still at sea.” An estimated 7,000 to 8,000 migrants are still at sea, many of them abandoned by traffickers after a recent crackdown by Thailand on human smuggling. An additional 3,500 migrants — mainly Bangladeshis seeking jobs and ethnic Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar — have landed in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, or been rescued offshore, since May 10. Many of them are women and young children.
“We also agreed to offer them temporary shelter provided that the resettlement and repatriation process will be done in one year by the international community,” the agreement said. In the agreement announced Wednesday, Indonesia and Malaysia said they would “provide humanitarian assistance to those 7,000 irregular migrants still at sea.” They also agreed “to offer them temporary shelter provided that the resettlement and repatriation process will be done in one year by the international community.”
The joint statement called on the international community to provide Indonesia and Malaysia “the necessary support, particularly financial assistance, to enable them to provide temporary shelter and humanitarian assistance” for sheltering the migrants. It also said that the migrants should be repatriated to their home countries or resettled in a third country within a year. The statement called on the international community to “share the burden” by providing financial support.
While the details have not been worked out, Mr. Lowry called on governments in Southeast Asia as well as commercial shipping companies to help pinpoint the locations of migrant boats and provide them navigational directions to landing points in Malaysia and Indonesia, or rescue them if necessary. While the details have not been worked out, Mr. Lowry called on regional governments and commercial shipping companies to help pinpoint the locations of migrant boats and provide them directions to landing points in Malaysia and Indonesia, or rescue them if necessary.
The migrants who have made it to shore in Indonesia told stories of weeks of horror and brutality at the hands of the traffickers, who extorted them for money, provided little food or water and then abandoned them on the open sea to evade a crackdown on smuggling networks by the government of Thailand. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees called the agreement “an important initial step” and “vital” for saving lives, but said further action was required to address the root causes of crisis.
During their meeting, the three foreign ministers pledged to take necessary action against human traffickers who have been preying on the Rohingya and poor Bangladeshis looking for work, and they called for an emergency ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to discuss transnational crime. Tens of thousands of Rohingya, a stateless Muslim ethnic group that lives primarily in Rakhine State in western Myanmar, have fled the country during the last several years, most going to Malaysia or Bangladesh. The Myanmar government does not recognize the Rohingya as citizens and has refused to accept any back.
Tens of thousands of Rohingya, a stateless Muslim ethnic group that lives primarily in Rakhine State in western Myanmar, have fled the country during the last several years, most going to Malaysia or Bangladesh. The Myanmar government does not recognize the Rohingya as citizens and has refused to accept any back, including the latest groups who arrived in or attempted to land in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia in recent days. Myanmar officials did not attend Wednesday’s meeting in Malaysia and had no plans to attend a regional conference in Bangkok on May 29 to discuss the issue, said U Zaw Htay, deputy director general of the office of President Thein Sein of Myanmar.
Myanmar officials did not attend Wednesday’s meeting in Malaysia and had no plans to attend a regional conference in Bangkok on May 29 being hosted by the Thai government to discuss the migrant issue, said U Zaw Htay, deputy director general of the office of President Thein Sein of Myanmar. In a statement on Tuesday, Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry said the government was “deeply concerned” with the problem and was “making serious efforts” to combat trafficking and illegal migration. But officials have made no suggestion of reconsidering their policies toward the country’s one million Rohingya.
The Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai foreign ministers said in their joint statement that “the root causes and other contributory factors to the recent influx of irregular migrants should be immediately identified and addressed by the parties concerned” — a veiled reference to Myanmar. Surin Pitsuwan, a former Thai foreign minister and former secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said Myanmar’s cooperation would be essential to finding a more lasting solution to the crisis.
Thailand did not agree to take in any of the migrants. “Myanmar has to demonstrate to the world that it can resolve its own internal complexities and resolve this citizenship problem” with the Rohingya, he said, as well as the government’s failure to provide them education and health care.
Surin Pitsuwan, a former Thai foreign minister and former secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said Myanmar’s cooperation would be essential to finding a permanent resolution to the crisis. While the migrants from Myanmar may be allowed to apply for asylum, in Indonesia, Malaysia or perhaps a third country, those from Bangladesh are mainly economic refugees who are likely to be sent home, experts say.
“I think Myanmar has to demonstrate to the world that it can resolve its own internal complexities and resolve this citizenship problem” with the Rohingya, he said, as well as additional issues including discrimination and the Myanmar government’s failure to provide them basic education and health care. They are likely to resist repatriation: Many have made great financial sacrifices to make the voyage and many have relatives working abroad whom they had planned to join.
Philippine officials this week expressed general willingness to accept refugees still stranded in boats at sea, but they did not make specific pledges as to how many might be taken in and under what circumstances. Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, Bangladesh’s minister for expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment, praised the new agreement. “It is a very good decision because our primary concern was to save their lives,” he said.
“The Philippines, as a state party to relevant instruments, such as the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, has a commitment to provide succor and relief to persons involuntarily displaced from their homelands as a consequence of political conflict,” said Charles Jose, spokesman for the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs. “Now, our main issue will be to confirm the identity of the Bangladeshi nationals” among the migrants, he added. “Those who are identified as Bangladeshi nationals, we will bring them back to our country.”
Officials have said that if refugees make it to the shores of the Philippines, they will not be turned away. The military government in Thailand, where the migrant issue has been divisive, was still grappling with its response, including whether to take any migrants.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement Tuesday night saying that the government was willing to provide humanitarian assistance to any refugees on the seas and was making “serious efforts” to tackle people smuggling and illegal migration. “Whether to accept them or not, I don’t know,” Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters Wednesday. “We are discussing it.”
The statement, however, did not say whether Myanmar would accept any Rohingya. Human Rights Watch described Thailand as “missing in action.”
Moe Thuzar, lead researcher at the Asean Studies Center at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, said Myanmar’s government was “caught in a bind” over the legal status of the Rohingya. “Let’s hope that this failure of Thai leadership is temporary, and that Bangkok recognizes that it should urgently revamp its stance and join with Indonesia and Malaysia to save these people on the high seas and provide them with humanitarian shelter and assistance ashore,” said Phil Robertson, the organization’s deputy director for Asia.
“I think the present government administration is not averse to citizenship — this is after all an election year there,” she said. “This is not the role they want to play while emerging onto the international scene as a responsible member.” Officials in the Philippines expressed willingness this week to accept refugees, but did not make specific pledges as to how many might be taken in and under what circumstances. They have said that if refugees make it to the shores of the Philippines, they will not be turned away.
In Jakarta, Maj. Gen. Fuad Basya, chief spokesman of the Indonesian military, said separate groups of at least 370 migrants aboard several ships were separately rescued on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning in Aceh Province, which lies on the northern tip of Sumatra. But the crisis is unfolding more than 2,500 kilometers away with refugees using flimsy boats and so far none have come near the Philippines.
One issue that was not controversial was human trafficking, which all of the countries involved, including Myanmar, agreed to try to stop.
The migrants who have made it to shore in Indonesia told stories of weeks of horror and brutality at the hands of the traffickers, who extorted them for money, provided little food or water and then abandoned them on the open sea to evade a crackdown on smuggling networks by the government of Thailand. There have been reports of passengers dying of starvation and their bodies being tossed overboard.
During their meeting on Wednesday, the three foreign ministers pledged to take necessary action against human traffickers, and called for an emergency ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to discuss transnational crime.
The migrants rescued by fishermen in Indonesia were on several ships rescued separately on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning in Aceh Province, on the northern tip of Sumatra, said Maj. Gen. Fuad Basya, chief spokesman of the Indonesian military.
He said they all were taken to a camp in Langsa, in East Aceh District, one of two camps opened in the province last week.He said they all were taken to a camp in Langsa, in East Aceh District, one of two camps opened in the province last week.
Chris Lewa, coordinator of the Arakan Project, a human rights group that tracks migration in the Andaman Sea, said that one of the ships that had arrived in Aceh had been first discovered last week by journalists off the coast of Thailand.Chris Lewa, coordinator of the Arakan Project, a human rights group that tracks migration in the Andaman Sea, said that one of the ships that had arrived in Aceh had been first discovered last week by journalists off the coast of Thailand.