Thousands stranded at sea

Nearly 900 Rohingyas and Bangladeshi migrants have been rescued from smugglers' boats stranded at sea, but their fates remain uncertain with Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia insisting on pushing back the boats and deporting those who land ashore. Over the last week alone, at least 2,800 migrants have been rescued, and it is estimated that another 8,000 of them are stranded in boats in the Andaman Ocean and Malacca Straits without adequate food, water, or sanitation, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

We note with concern that the appeals from the UN, IOM and human rights organisations to give refuge to the boatpeople on humanitarian grounds have fallen on deaf years of East Asian governments. The practice of turning back refugees, with no consideration of their subsequent plight, is an affront to basic human decency and a gross violation of human rights and international laws. According to UN conventions, a country has an obligation to "render assistance to those in distress at sea", and not send back a victim of persecution back to her country where her "life or freedom would be threatened."

Respective governments must refrain from turning back destitute refugees, and make an urgent coordinated regional effort to save the lives of thousands of migrants. We are deeply disappointed that Myanmar has spurned calls for a planned summit on the issue, particularly as it is the Myanmar government's continued persecution of the minority community that has forced thousands of Rohingyas over the years to risk their lives in the dangerous seas.

International bodies and Western powers must exert pressure not just on East Asian governments, but the Myanmar government as well, to address the underlying factors that thrust vulnerable populations towards a gory future.