By P Prem Kumar and Max Constant
KUALA LUMPUR/BANGKOK
Southeast Asian countries are clamouring to bring an end to the migrant crisis troubling Andaman shores, with both Thailand and Malaysia announcing regional talks to find a solution.
Malaysia said Wednesday that it will hold a meeting with Bangladesh and Myanmar - the countries of origin of many of the migrants - to find a multilateral solution to the issue, while its Thai neighbour said it will host its own talks May 29.
Thai junta chief-cum-Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha has said the meet would focus on human trafficking and smuggling across Southeast Asia with the participation of senior officials from “15 affected countries.”
Since Thailand launched a crackdown on human trafficking in its southern region May 1, at least five large human trafficking camps have been found in Songkhla province and 33 corpses - Muslim Rohingya from western Myanmar and Bangladeshi - have been exhumed.
The largest camp, made up of 21 sleeping sheds, eight latrines and two watch towers, was found by a combined team of police and military officers Tuesday. Police said it was used as a detention camp with a capacity to keep up to 1,000 people.
Migrants were detained until their relatives could pay a ransom to the smugglers.
Under pressure, the smugglers have been ditching emaciated Bangladeshi and Rohingya migrants in Malaysia and in Indonesia - on at least one occasion telling those trying to reach the economic promise of Kuala Lumpur that they were actually on Malay shores.
Both countries have since announced plans to turn back the boats, unless they are unseaworthy and sinking.
The head of Malaysia's maritime enforcement agency told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday that "in consideration of the country's safety and security," it could not let any more boats in.
In recent days, Malaysia has received 1,158 illegal migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar,
"We have decided not to allow any boats into Malaysia unless they are in a sinking condition. Unless that, we will provide provisions, fuel to [the] boats and send them away," said First Admiral Tan Kok Kwee.
Malaysian Home Ministry Secretary-General Alwi Ibrahim told AA on Wednesday that Thailand would also be invited to the meet, as in most cases the smuggling of migrants was being carried out through the Malaysia-Thailand border.
"In this case, the illegal immigrants were willing to come to Malaysia. But there have been cases where there were promises of employment opportunities elsewhere but [they] ended up [being] dumped here," he said in an emailed response to AA enquiries.
For the Thai meet, the key parties of Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Malaysia will participate, along with representatives from Indonesia, Australia and Vietnam, and an observer mission from the United States, reported the Bangkok Post Wednesday.
“Thailand is in the middle of a trafficking route and the countries of origin of trafficked Rohingya migrants and the destination countries must us with us to tackle the problem,” underlined Chan-ocha, while announcing the meeting.
He confirmed that his government was contemplating setting up provisional refugee camps to shelter Rohingya and Bangladeshi found in Thailand.
At least 250 of them - wandering in forests bordering Malaysia after being abandoned by smugglers - have been discovered in the past ten days.
However, the head of the national security council - a body advising the government - warned that setting up refugee camps could have adverse effects and pose security issues.
“Rohingya use Thailand only as a route to other countries, so there is no need to set up shelters for them,” Anusit Khunakorn said.
“But we should still provide them with necessary humanitarian aid.”
