More than 1,000 people fleeing persecution in Myanmar and poverty in Bangladesh came ashore on Friday around Southeast Asia, describing murder, extortion and near-starvation after surviving a miserable journey at sea.
The waves of weak, hungry and dehydrated migrants who arrived on Friday were the latest to slip into countries that have made it clear they’re not welcome. But thousands more are still believed stranded at sea in what has become a humanitarian crisis no one in the region is rushing to solve.
Most of the migrants were crammed onto three boats that Indonesian fishermen towed ashore, while a group of 106 people were found on a Thai island known for its world-class scuba diving and brought to the mainland.
migrant push back policy inhumane, says UN
Geneva: The UN on Friday called the “push back” migrant ships policy of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia as “incomprehensible and inhumane” and appealed to them to step up search and rescue operations, amid reports that more than 6,000 people are still stranded in the perilous sea. PTI
‘Myanmar unlikely to attend migrant crisis meeting’
Yangon: Myanmar may snub a regional meeting hosted by Thailand later this month aimed at easing the current Bay of Bengal migrant crisis, the President’s office said on Friday. AFP