By P Prem Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR
Malaysia's foreign minister is to visit Myanmar on Thursday to discuss its offer to temporarily house thousands of Rohingya boat people, while also pressuring the Myanmar government to solve ongoing problems between its Muslim and Buddhist communities.
In previous weeks, the country has issued a stern warning to Myanmar to address the Rohingya issue, as Southeast Asian countries began to ratchet up the pressure on Nay Pyi Taw to tackle a crisis that has left around 7,000 migrants stranded.
Deputy Foreign Minister Hamzah Zainudin confirmed to Anadolu Agency that Anifah Aman is scheduled to have a bilateral meeting with Myanmar Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin in the country's capital on Thursday.
He said that the meeting was arranged to inform the country of Malaysia and Indonesia's decision to take in the boatloads of migrants until the international community takes them off their hands.
"The minister [Aman] will also persuade the Myanmar government to mediate a conclusion in the ongoing conflict between Burmese [Buddhists] and [Rohingya] Muslims," he added, in a telephone conversation.
"Myanmar is expected to be cooperative and will receive our proposal well."
Malaysia is the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and was instrumental in Myanmar becoming involved in the bloc.
Aman will be accompanied by Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, spokesperson Arrmanata Nasir confirming her participation to Anadolu Agency on Thursday.
"She will discuss some bilateral cooperation with Myanmar officials, as well as the Rohingya migrants issue," said Nasir.
He added that the minister will urge Myanmar to speed up its reformation and democratization process so it can solve "the Rohingya problem."
Myanmar is under intense pressure to help stem the flood of migrants from Bangladesh - many of whom are Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar - that have been attempting to land on Malaysian, Thai, and Indonesian shores.
Myanmar, however, does not recognize its Rohingya population, preferring to refer to them as Bengali - which suggests they are from neighboring Bangladesh.
For weeks after the May 1 crisis started, it denied involvement, a senior Myanmar official lashing out at mounting international pressure for it to join talks.
U Zaw Htay - a director at the Myanmar president’s office - claimed the problem is down to human traffickers and corrupt officials, and has nothing to do with Myanmar.
Since 2012, Rohingya -- who the United Nations consider to be the world’s most persecuted ethnic minority -- have been fleeing Myanmar in droves, in fear of violence that some human rights groups consider to be state-sponsored.
Earlier Wednesday, however, a statement carried by state media marked a shift in the government's rhetoric.
The country's government announced it was "deeply concerned" about the "life-threatening" conditions faced by thousands of its migrants stranded at sea.
On Wednesday, Malaysia's Aman and Indonesia's Marsudi said the two countries had agreed to offer temporary shelter to the migrants currently stranded on boats on the Andaman Sea - but only if the international community agrees to then resettle them after one year.
The two were speaking to media after three-way talks on the crisis with their Thai counterpart.
"In the meantime, Malaysia and Indonesia invite other countries in the region to join in this endeavor," Aman told reporters.
Indonesia’s Vice President Jusuf Kalla later clarified his country’s position saying that they would shelter Rohingya for one year, while the Bangladeshis would be sent back home.
"A year is [the] maximum," he said. "But there should be international cooperation."
There was no indication that other countries had agreed to the deal, or when the “sheltering” would begin.
By Wednesday night, however, the Philippines, the U.S. and Gambia had come on board, and Turkey had announced that it would donate $1 million to support aid activities.
Thailand, however, is not agreeing to any deal, saying Thursday that it would not open shelters in its borders.
“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,” said Junta chief-cum-Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha.
Since Thailand launched a crackdown on trafficking in its southern region May 1, boatloads of the migrants have been turning up on Thai, Indonesian and Malaysian shores, while many more remain at sea.
Some of them have been taken in, emaciated passengers whisked to hospitals and holding centers, but of late the navies of the three countries had been turning the vessels back to sea after providing them with food and water.
Many of the boat's Muslim occupants have fled Myanmar's western Rakhine state alleging brutality by the country’s military leaders, some have left refugee camps in Bangladesh’s Cox Bazar region, while others claim to have been forced onto the boats by people smugglers – ransoms then demanded from their families back home for their safe passage.
Kyaw Min, a Rohingya rights activist in Myanmar's main city of Yangon, welcomed the increased international cooperation on the crisis as a sign of "hope."
But he also warned that if migrants can be brought to safety then countries would have to "follow up" to address the root causes that are driving desperate Rohingya from Myanmar.
"People are thinking that it is better to die in the sea than stay at home... there is no hope for the future," he told the AA Wednesday.
Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia are not signatories to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention that would oblige them to resettle a certain number of refugees.
*Anadolu Agency correspondent Ainur Rohmah contributed to this story from Jakarta.
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