SE Asia concludes ‘boat people’ meeting
Southeast Asian nations affected by the ‘boat people’ crisis concluded a regional conference in the Thai capital, Bangkok, on Friday without any major progress, while Myanmar warned those blaming it for the crisis that ‘finger pointing’ would not help.
Southeast Asia has been beset for years by growing waves of desperate migrants from Bangladesh escaping poverty at home and Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar. In the last several weeks alone, at least 3,000 people have been rescued by fishermen or have made their way ashore in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Several thousand more are believed to still be at sea after human smugglers abandoned their boats amid a regional crackdown.
The delegates agreed to set up an anti-trafficking task force and approved a wide-ranging list of recommendations to tackle the "root causes" of the crisis - although the plan was carefully worded to avoid upsetting Myanmar, which denies it is the source of the problem.
The meeting in the Thai capital, was attended by representatives of 17 countries directly or indirectly affected by the growing crisis, including the United States and Japan, and officials from international organizations such as the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The fact that so many countries _ including Myanmar _ participated was considered progress in itself. Though the talks produced no major breakthrough, delegates agreed on the need to keep discussing. ``The most encouraging result was the general consensus that these discussions need to continue,'' said IOM Director-General William Lacy Swing. ``It cannot be a one-off.'' UNHCR official, Volker Turk, said there could be no solution if root causes are not addressed. (Source: AP)
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