Malaysia and Indonesia said they would no t turn away boatpeople and Myanmar softened stance, a breakthrough in the migrant crisis that came hours after hundreds more starving people were rescued at sea.
But anxious not to encourage a fresh influx, Malaysia and Indonesia made it clear that their assistance was temporary and they would take no more than the 7,000 believed to still stranded at the sea.
A total of 433 people, all Myanmar Rohingyas, were rescued by local fishermen from their wooden vessel off Indonesia’s Aceh province yesterday, reports AFP. The breakdown of those on board was 70 children and babies, 70 women and 293 men.
Indonesian official Sadikin told AFP that fishermen “found the boat bobbing about, the engine was dead, the fishermen felt pity for them … Some looked very sick and weak, some looked dehydrated, there seems to be a lack of water and food at sea.”
Nearly 3,000 boatpeople have swum to shore or been rescued off the three countries over the past 10 days after a Thai crackdown on human-trafficking threw the illicit trade into chaos.
The UNHCR believes that at least 2,000 migrants may be stranded on boats off the Myanmar-Bangladesh coasts.
Earlier, Myanmar, whose policies toward its ethnic Rohingya minority are widely blamed for fuelling the human flow, also softened its line by offering to provide humanitarian aid to stricken migrants.
Myanmar state media quoted a foreign ministry statement as saying that the government “shares concerns” expressed by the international community.
Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand sparked international outrage by driving off boats overloaded with Rohingyas and Bangladeshis.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, in a joint press appearance with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi, announced that the “towing and the shooing” are not going to happen any more.
“We [Malaysia and Indonesia] agreed to offer them temporary shelter provided that the resettlement and repatriation process will be done in one year by the international community,” Anifah said.
The two ministers spoke after talks with Thai Foreign Minister Tanasak Patimapragorn. Thailand however did not sign on to the offer but a Thai foreign ministry statement later said officials would not push back migrants stranded in their waters.
US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during a stop in Jakarta, said he would push Myanmar to improve conditions for Rohingya when he visits Naypidaw today.
