About 800 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants were rescued off Indonesia on Friday, as Myanmar undermined calls for a coordinated response to Southeast Asia's human-trafficking crisis by threatening to boycott a planned summit.
Hundreds more migrants were aboard a boat that was intercepted offshore by Indonesia's navy, a military spokesman said, as authorities worked out what to do with it.
The Indonesian and Malaysian policy of turning away stricken boats filled with starving Bangladeshis and ethnic Rohingya from Myanmar has been met with outrage, including from Washington and the United Nations.
Activists estimate up to 8,000 migrants may be at sea in Southeast Asia, with horrific tales emerging of starvation and death.
In his first public comments on the issue, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said he was "very concerned with the plight of migrants" but gave no indication of a policy shift on an issue that has caused finger-pointing among regional governments.
"We are in contact with all relevant parties, with whom we share the desire to find a solution to this crisis," he said in a statement, without elaborating.
It was not clear whether those "relevant parties" included Myanmar, which faces harsh criticism of its treatment of the Rohingya and on Friday snubbed neighbouring Thailand's call for a regional meeting on the problem on May 29.
The unfolding humanitarian crisis appears to have been precipitated by a Thai police crackdown that has thrown busy people-smuggling routes into chaos.
"We are unlikely to attend... we do not accept it if they (Thailand) are inviting us just to ease the pressure they are facing," Myanmar presidential office director Zaw Htay told AFP.
Indonesian police said at least 797 people were rescued Friday by fisherman in Aceh province on the east coast of huge Sumatra island.
Search and rescue officials said it was not immediately clear whether they had come from the same boat. Many passengers said their vessel headed toward Indonesia after earlier being driven away by Malaysia, according to police.
At least 61 children were ferried to shore by Indonesian fishermen.
Nearly 600 migrants were already sheltering in Aceh after managing to get ashore in recent days.
- US demands: 'Save lives' -
Earlier Friday, a boat carrying about 300 Rohingya left Thailand's waters, a Thai official said, after authorities repaired its engine and provided some food.
Its passengers included many children and women who had wept as they begged for food and water after arriving near the southern Thai island of Koh Lipe on Thursday.
They told a boatload of journalists of a grim two-month odyssey in which 10 passengers had died of starvation or illness and were tossed overboard.
"We haven't had anything to eat for a week, there is nowhere to sleep... my children are sick," said Sajida, 27, a Rohingya who was travelling with her four young children.
A Thai official said the passengers -- who wanted to reach Malaysia -- declined offers to come ashore in Thailand, fearing they would be sent back to Myanmar.
They planned instead to make for Indonesia, the official said.
Regional governments have been roundly chastised for what Human Rights Watch described as a deadly game of "human ping pong" in rejecting the migrants.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Southeast Asia to "keep their borders and ports open in order to help the vulnerable people who are in need".
He also reminded authorities they were obliged to rescue stricken boats and to respect an international ban on expelling prospective refugees.
The US State Department demanded that Southeast Asian countries "save lives at sea".
Spokesman Jeff Rathke said US ambassadors in the region were coordinating with UN agencies and governments on ways to help.
The Bangladeshis are thought mainly to be economic migrants escaping their country's grinding poverty.
But the Muslim Rohingya flee by the thousands each year to escape state-sanctioned discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and recent sectarian violence against them.
There are more than a million Rohingya living in Myanmar's western state of Rakhine, many going back generations, but Myanmar insists they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
About 800 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants were rescued off Indonesia on Friday, as Myanmar undermined calls for a coordinated response to Southeast Asia’s human-trafficking crisis by threatening to boycott a planned summit.
Hundreds more migrants were aboard a boat that was intercepted offshore by Indonesia’s navy, a military spokesman said, as authorities worked out what to do with it.
The Indonesian and Malaysian policy of turning away stricken boats filled with starving Bangladeshis and ethnic Rohingya from Myanmar has been met with outrage, including from Washington and the United Nations.
Activists estimate up to 8,000 migrants may be at sea in Southeast Asia, with horrific tales emerging of starvation and death.
In his first public comments on the issue, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said he was “very concerned with the plight of migrants” but gave no indication of a policy shift on an issue that has caused finger-pointing among regional governments.
“We are in contact with all relevant parties, with whom we share the desire to find a solution to this crisis,” he said in a statement, without elaborating.
It was not clear whether those “relevant parties” included Myanmar, which faces harsh criticism of its treatment of the Rohingya and on Friday snubbed neighbouring Thailand’s call for a regional meeting on the problem on May 29.
The unfolding humanitarian crisis appears to have been precipitated by a Thai police crackdown that has thrown busy people-smuggling routes into chaos.
“We are unlikely to attend… we do not accept it if they (Thailand) are inviting us just to ease the pressure they are facing,” Myanmar presidential office director Zaw Htay told AFP.
Indonesian police said at least 797 people were rescued Friday by fisherman in Aceh province on the east coast of huge Sumatra island.
Search and rescue officials said it was not immediately clear whether they had come from the same boat. Many passengers said their vessel headed toward Indonesia after earlier being driven away by Malaysia, according to police.
At least 61 children were ferried to shore by Indonesian fishermen.
Nearly 600 migrants were already sheltering in Aceh after managing to get ashore in recent days.
– US demands: ‘Save lives’ –
Earlier Friday, a boat carrying about 300 Rohingya left Thailand’s waters, a Thai official said, after authorities repaired its engine and provided some food.
Its passengers included many children and women who had wept as they begged for food and water after arriving near the southern Thai island of Koh Lipe on Thursday.
They told a boatload of journalists of a grim two-month odyssey in which 10 passengers had died of starvation or illness and were tossed overboard.
“We haven’t had anything to eat for a week, there is nowhere to sleep… my children are sick,” said Sajida, 27, a Rohingya who was travelling with her four young children.
A Thai official said the passengers — who wanted to reach Malaysia — declined offers to come ashore in Thailand, fearing they would be sent back to Myanmar.
They planned instead to make for Indonesia, the official said.
Regional governments have been roundly chastised for what Human Rights Watch described as a deadly game of “human ping pong” in rejecting the migrants.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Southeast Asia to “keep their borders and ports open in order to help the vulnerable people who are in need”.
He also reminded authorities they were obliged to rescue stricken boats and to respect an international ban on expelling prospective refugees.
The US State Department demanded that Southeast Asian countries “save lives at sea”.
Spokesman Jeff Rathke said US ambassadors in the region were coordinating with UN agencies and governments on ways to help.
The Bangladeshis are thought mainly to be economic migrants escaping their country’s grinding poverty.
But the Muslim Rohingya flee by the thousands each year to escape state-sanctioned discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and recent sectarian violence against them.
There are more than a million Rohingya living in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine, many going back generations, but Myanmar insists they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
