Malaysia vows to turn away migrant vessels
Malaysia has joined neighboring Indonesia in vowing to turn away vessels carrying migrants, many of whom are Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya Muslims, to Southeast Asian shores, as human rights groups warn of a humanitarian catastrophe.
The country’s top coast guard official, Tan Kok Kwee, said Wednesday that it would turn away any boat that enters its waters, except in cases in which there is an imminent danger of a vessel sinking.
The announcement came a day after neighboring Indonesia's navy turned away a boat packed with hundreds of Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis, saying the migrants were given food, water and directions to Malaysia — their original destination.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), called on Tuesday for an international search and rescue operation to save the thousands stranded on the seas between Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, warning of a looming humanitarian catastrophe.
Vivian Tan, a UNHCR spokeswoman, described the policy of rejecting arriving vessels as “really worrying.”
“We continue to appeal for countries in the region to share responsibility and avert a humanitarian crisis,” the UNHCR spokeswoman added.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 8,000 migrants were adrift off the coasts of Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
More than 1,000 exhausted and starving migrants have swum to shore on Malaysia’s Langkawi in recent days after being dumped onto land or deserted on their boats by traffickers, with hundreds more arriving ashore in Indonesia.
An estimated 25,000 Rohingyas and Bangladeshis boarded human smuggling boats in the first three months of 2015, twice as many during the same period last year, according to UNHCR figures.
Every year, thousands of Bangladeshis and Rohingya refugees from Myanmar attempt to enter Malaysia, mainly from Bangladesh’s southern coastal town of Teknaf, which borders Myanmar’s western Rakhine coast.
Scores of Rohingya people flee Myanmar annually to escape discrimination and sectarian violence that has targeted them in recent years. Recent arrivals in Indonesia and Malaysia have recounted horrific tales.
Myanmar denies citizenship to most of the 1.3 million Rohingyas, placing restrictions on their movement, marriages, and economic opportunities. The government has been repeatedly criticized by human rights groups for failing to protect the Rohingya.
CAH/NN/HMV
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