"I have further ordered [the] Royal Malaysian Navy and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency to conduct search and rescue efforts for Rohingya boats.
"We have to prevent loss of life," Mr Najib said on his Facebook account.
This morning's statement marked the first clear indication that Malaysian vessels would actively seek to reach such boats.
Yesterday, the Malaysian and Indonesian foreign ministers announced a breakthrough in the impasse involving thousands of migrants feared to be stranded at sea.
They said the two countries would allow the migrants to land on their shores, ending a much-condemned policy of turning them away, but did not specify at the time whether Malaysian forces would search for and rescue such boats.
Nearly 3,000 migrants have swum to shore or been rescued off Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand after a Thai crackdown on people-smuggling threw the illicit trade into chaos.
The boatloads of starving Rohingya and Bangladeshis have typically been found abandoned by their smuggling syndicates and left to fend for themselves.
[rte.ie]
21/5/15
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Related:
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- US to Push Myanmar on Better Treatment of Rohingya...
A senior U.S. diplomatic official is headed to Myanmar, where he will call for improved treatment of the country's Rohingya minority, a day after Washington signaled it is willing to help provide refuge for the thousands of members of the ethnic group stranded at sea.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he will speak to the leaders of Myanmar Thursday "about its own responsibilities to improve conditions in Rakhine state so that people don't feel that their only choice is to put their lives at risk by leaving and taking to sea."
Around 3,000 refugees and migrants, mostly Rohingya from Myanmar and Bangladesh, have been rescued or swam ashore in Southeast Asian countries over the past 10 days after being abandoned at sea by people smugglers. Thousands more are thought to be adrift, with dwindling supplies.
- After initially refusing to help the so-called boat people, Indonesia and Malaysia on Wednesday agreed to provide humanitarian aid and temporary shelter to the estimated 7,000 stranded migrants, provided they are resettled within one year with the assistance of the international community.
Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak on Friday also ordered the Royal Malaysian Navy and Maritime Enforcement Agency to "conduct search and rescue efforts for Rohingya boats," according to a Facebook post, which stressed "We have to prevent the loss of life."
Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi will discuss the meeting Thursday with Myanmar officials in Myanmar's capital, Naypyidaw. A broader regional summit is set to be held next Friday.
The U.S. State Department welcomed the governments' decision to "uphold their responsibilities under international law," according to spokeswoman Marie Harf. She also said Washington will help the U.N. set up protection centers and consider requests to resettle some of the refugees..............voanews.com21/5/15
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Crise des migrants en Asie: la Malaisie se mobilise, la Birmanie sous pression...
ReplyDeleteLa Malaisie a annoncé jeudi la mobilisation de la marine et des garde-côtes pour venir en aide aux migrants en perdition en mer d'Adaman depuis des semaines, au moment où les pays de la région et les Etats-Unis se réunissent en Birmanie.
"Nous devons sauver des vies", a justifié le Premier ministre malaisien Najib Razak sur son compte Facebook.
Mercredi, la Malaisie et l'Indonésie avaient fait volte-face et annoncé qu'elles ne refouleraient plus les bateaux de migrants qui fuient la misère et les persécutions, tandis que des centaines d'entre eux étaient à nouveau secourus par des pêcheurs indonésiens.
Jeudi, la Malaisie est allée encore plus loin en lançant cette opération de sauvetage en mer, qui constitue un demi-tour complet par rapport à la gestion de la crise dans la région depuis dix jours.
Les bateaux transportent des Bangladais qui veulent échapper à la pauvreté ainsi que des membres de l'ethnie Rohingya, communauté musulmane persécutée et marginalisée, vivant pour l'essentiel en Birmanie, un pays largement bouddhiste....rtl.be
21/5/15
Thailand still reluctant to take in migrants adrift at sea...
ReplyDeleteThailand has played a central role in the boat crisis presently sweeping Southeast Asian shores, but while neighbors have offered to temporarily host around 7,000 migrants stick at sea, Bangkok is yet to open its doors.
On Wednesday, Malaysia and Indonesia's respective foreign ministers, Anifah Aman and Retno Marsudi told media after three-way talks on the crisis with their Thai counterpart that they had agreed to offer temporary shelter to "irregular migrants" providing others then step in.
But while Thai Foreign Minister General Tanasak Patimapragor joined them in strongly condemning the people smuggling and human trafficking operations at the heart of the operation, he offered no haven of his own.
Thai junta chief-cum-Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha sought to explain Thursday.
“Thailand is a transit country, so we have more problems than other countries. In terms of policy, we agree to help but all remains to be discussed,” he told the Bangkok Post.
It was transiting, however, that got Southeast Asia into this mess - lax and corrupt policing by Thailand allowing smuggling camps on its border with Malaysia to flourish, many of which were being used to hold Rohingya and Bangladeshis against their will while kidnappers collected ransoms from their families back home.
For decades, Thailand has hosted an array of migrants......aa.com.tr
21/5/15
'Boat people' likely posing as Rohingya for aid, says Myanmar general...
ReplyDeleteMyanmar's military commander-in-chief said some "boat people" landing in Malaysia and Indonesia this month are likely pretending to be Rohingya Muslims to receive U.N. aid and that many had fled neighboring Bangladesh, state media reported on Friday.
The remarks are sure to spark concern after the United States lambasted Myanmar this week for failing to address the cause of the crisis, which observers say stems from Myanmar's refusal to recognize the Rohingya, an ethnic minority group living in western Myanmar, as citizens.
Most of Myanmar's 1.1 million Rohingya are stateless and live in apartheid-like conditions. Almost 140,000 were displaced in deadly clashes with Buddhists in the western state of Rakhine in 2012.
UN agencies have urged regional governments to protect thousands of migrants stranded on boats in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman sea with dwindling supplies.
Hundreds of migrants, including Rohingya from Myanmar and Bangladeshis fleeing persecution and poverty at home, have been pushed back out to sea by Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia this month. Many now face sickness and possible starvation....REUTERS
22/5/15