Malaysia ordered search and rescue missions yesterday for thousands of boatpeople stranded at sea, as Myanmar prepared talks with US and Southeast Asian envoys on the migrant exodus from its shores.The rescue order, the first proactive official move to save persecuted Muslim Rohingya and Bangladeshi economic migrants, comes a day after Malaysia and Indonesia said they would end a policy of turning away boats.
“We have to prevent loss of life,” Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on his Facebook account, announcing the measure. Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said his country had not made a similar order but the issue was “something that will be discussed”.
For days, as the migrant crisis unfolded, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand have refused to take in boats overloaded with exhausted passengers fleeing poverty or persecution. But on Wednesday, Malaysia and Indonesia relented, announcing their nations would accept boatpeople for one year, or until they can be resettled or repatriated with the help of international agencies.
The policy about-turn was welcomed by the United States, whose deputy secretary of state Antony Blinken was due to meet with Myanmar officials in Naypyidaw today.
Malaysian foreign minister Anifah Aman and his Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi Aman, were also set to meet Myanmar officials for bilateral talks.
No further details were immediately available on the meetings.
The Rohingya flee in droves each year, an exodus that has surged following sectarian violence in 2012, pitting them against local Buddhists in the western state of Rakhine.
News of the diplomatic breakthrough was yesterday yet to trickle down to the displaced Rohingya lodged in ramshackle camps around the state capital, Sittwe.
But with the people-smuggling route to Thailand currently blocked, some Rohingya communities were trying to raise funds to pay off the smugglers and buy back their loved ones who are stranded on boats at sea awaiting transit south.
“I do not want to go. I saw what happened to the people in the sea and it’s scary,” said one displaced Rohingya man in the Anauk San Pya camp. Tearful mothers holding photographs pleaded for help as they tried to locate their children who have not made contact since they left on boats weeks ago.
But the fate of the Rohingya remains an incendiary issue in Myanmar.
Heading into yesterday’s talks, Myanmar’s government reiterated its refusal to recognise the stateless Rohingya as an ethnic group. It insists they are illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.
“We do not accept that term (Rohingya) here,” said Zaw Htay, director of the presidential office.
But he confirmed that Myanmar would attend a broader regional summit planned on the crisis in Bangkok on May 29, after the government this week softened its line by offering to provide humanitarian assistance. Thailand also took part in Wednesday’s talks in Kuala Lumpur but did not sign on fully to the offer.
However, its foreign ministry later said it would no longer “push back migrants stranded in Thai waters”.
Nearly 3000 migrants have swum to shore or been rescued off the coastlines of the three countries over the past 10 days after a Thai crackdown on human trafficking threw the illicit trade into chaos. Some traffickers are believed to have abandoned their human cargo at sea with scant food or water.
Anifah said Malaysian intelligence estimated that about 7000 people were still adrift in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea.
Hours before Malaysia and Indonesia changed tack, more than 400 starving migrants were rescued from their decrepit boat off Indonesia by local fishing vessels Wednesday.
The boat had bounced between Thailand and Malaysia in recent days, rejected by authorities, as images of its emaciated Rohingya passengers – captured by media – shocked observers worldwide.
Malaysia orders search for boatpeople at sea
“We have to prevent loss of life,” Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on his Facebook account, announcing the measure. Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said his country had not made a similar order but the issue was “something that will be discussed”.
For days, as the migrant crisis unfolded, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand have refused to take in boats overloaded with exhausted passengers fleeing poverty or persecution. But on Wednesday, Malaysia and Indonesia relented, announcing their nations would accept boatpeople for one year, or until they can be resettled or repatriated with the help of international agencies.
The policy about-turn was welcomed by the United States, whose deputy secretary of state Antony Blinken was due to meet with Myanmar officials in Naypyidaw today.
Malaysian foreign minister Anifah Aman and his Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi Aman, were also set to meet Myanmar officials for bilateral talks.
No further details were immediately available on the meetings.
The Rohingya flee in droves each year, an exodus that has surged following sectarian violence in 2012, pitting them against local Buddhists in the western state of Rakhine.
News of the diplomatic breakthrough was yesterday yet to trickle down to the displaced Rohingya lodged in ramshackle camps around the state capital, Sittwe.
But with the people-smuggling route to Thailand currently blocked, some Rohingya communities were trying to raise funds to pay off the smugglers and buy back their loved ones who are stranded on boats at sea awaiting transit south.
“I do not want to go. I saw what happened to the people in the sea and it’s scary,” said one displaced Rohingya man in the Anauk San Pya camp. Tearful mothers holding photographs pleaded for help as they tried to locate their children who have not made contact since they left on boats weeks ago.
But the fate of the Rohingya remains an incendiary issue in Myanmar.
Heading into yesterday’s talks, Myanmar’s government reiterated its refusal to recognise the stateless Rohingya as an ethnic group. It insists they are illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.
“We do not accept that term (Rohingya) here,” said Zaw Htay, director of the presidential office.
But he confirmed that Myanmar would attend a broader regional summit planned on the crisis in Bangkok on May 29, after the government this week softened its line by offering to provide humanitarian assistance. Thailand also took part in Wednesday’s talks in Kuala Lumpur but did not sign on fully to the offer.
However, its foreign ministry later said it would no longer “push back migrants stranded in Thai waters”.
Nearly 3000 migrants have swum to shore or been rescued off the coastlines of the three countries over the past 10 days after a Thai crackdown on human trafficking threw the illicit trade into chaos. Some traffickers are believed to have abandoned their human cargo at sea with scant food or water.
Anifah said Malaysian intelligence estimated that about 7000 people were still adrift in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea.
Hours before Malaysia and Indonesia changed tack, more than 400 starving migrants were rescued from their decrepit boat off Indonesia by local fishing vessels Wednesday.
The boat had bounced between Thailand and Malaysia in recent days, rejected by authorities, as images of its emaciated Rohingya passengers – captured by media – shocked observers worldwide.
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