The United Nations has called upon the authorities of Southeast Asian countries to keep their borders and ports open to vulnerable people stranded on smugglers’ boats between the Andaman Sea and the Straits of Malacca.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made the call through a press statement dated May 14.
In the statement, the UN Secretary-General expressed concerns about the crisis evolving in the Andaman Sea and Straits of Malacca, where several thousand people are believed to be stranded on smugglers’ boats.
He was also alarmed by reports that some countries may be refusing entry to boats carrying refugees and migrants.
Urging the governments concerned to uphold the obligation of rescue at sea, he said: “Ensure that the prohibition on refoulement is maintained.”
He also urged the leaderships in the region to facilitate timely disembarkation.
The Secretary-General has also taken note of the efforts to organise a regional summit and calls on all leaders of South-East Asia to intensify individual and collective efforts to address “this worrying situation and tackle the root causes, which are often human rights violations.”
In this regard, he reminded states of their obligations under international law; he emphasised the need for a “timely, comprehensive, rights-based, and effective response.”
More than 700 migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh were brought ashore to the east coast of Aceh on Indonesia's island of Sumatra on Friday, a search and rescue official said.
A boat carrying nearly 600 migrants landed in Indonesia on Sunday. Thousands of migrants are stranded on similar boats in Southeast Asian seas following a Thai crackdown on human trafficking.
Moreover, the governments in the region seek to prevent them from landing.