Thailand calls May 29 regional summit on migrant crisis

[webfact]

Thailand calls May 29 regional summit on migrant crisis
AFP

BANGKOK: -- Thailand will host a May 29 regional summit on the flow of migrants through the Bay of Bengal, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, as it grapples with an "unprecedented" human trafficking crisis.

Hundreds of boat people have arrived on Thai, Malaysian and Indonesian soil since May 1, when the discovery of mass graves believed to belong to Bangladeshi and Myanmar migrants in southern Thailand prompted a crackdown on trafficking and smugglers to abandon their cargo.

Thai authorities, who have been accused of turning a blind eye -- and also complicity in -- the trade, say they cannot stem the flow of the migrants making dangerous sea journeys from Bangladesh and Myanmar without regional help.

"The special meeting is an urgent call for the region to... work together to address the unprecedented increase of irregular migration," the Thai foreign ministry said in a statement.

"Countries of origin, transit and destination must work together to address the problem," the statement said, adding that included tackling the "root causes".

The one-day meeting in Bangkok will include officials from 15 countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Myanmar as well as Australia and the United States.

Many of those who make the perilous sea journey through the Bay of Bengal come from the Muslim Rohingya minority -- a marginalised group living in impoverished western Myanmar and a wedge of coastal land in neighbouring Bangladesh.

Myanmar refuses the minority citizenship and communal violence between local Buddhists and the Rohingya has incubated the dire humanitarian situation that has seen them flee in droves.


-- (c) Copyright AFP 2015-05-13

[webfact]

Thailand to host a meeting on irregular migration in the Indian Ocean



BANGKOK, 13 May 2015 (NNT) – The Thai Government is to organize a special meeting on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean on 29 May 2015 in Bangkok. The meeting is held in response to an urgent call for the region to comprehensively work together to address an unprecedented increase of human trafficking criss across the Bay of Bengal in recent years, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tanasak Patimapragorn said on Tuesday.

He emphasized that the increasing complexity of the problem demands a multi-faceted approach. Countries of origin, transit, and destination must work together to solve the problem at its roots along with all contributing factors.

The minister affirmed Thailand’s commitment in this cooperative and coordinated approach. Thailand will join the upcoming ratification of the ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (ACTIP) to be signed at the 27th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur in November 2015.

The one-day meeting on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean will see senior officials from 15 affected countries participating. They include among others, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and the U.S. as observers. The meeting will be opened by Gen Tanasak and chaired by Norachit Sinhaseni, Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs.

Also attending are many relevant international organizations namely UNHCR, IOM, and UNODC. They will jointly push forward the progress of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime. It will also follow up on the existing work done on this issue, particularly the Special Ministerial Conference on Irregular Movement of Persons held in Jakarta in 2013.

The special meeting serves as a forum for exchanges of information and intelligence on the issues as well as for demonstrating their strong commitment to boost their cooperation with more concrete actions.


-- NNT 2015-05-13

[BSJ]

It all boils down to it being a Myanmar problem....and they haven't dealt with it in the right way.

[FloridaExport]

It all boils down to it being a Myanmar problem....and they haven't dealt with it in the right way.

So you are saying that Thailand isn't culpable in any way for the slavery and murder of the thousands of fleeing migrants?

[Baerboxer]

It all boils down to it being a Myanmar problem....and they haven't dealt with it in the right way.

So you are saying that Thailand isn't culpable in any way for the slavery and murder of the thousands of fleeing migrants?

No he's not. He's saying that the root cause is how Myanmar and Bangladesh treat these people, which encourages them to flee. The ruthless traffickers and corrupt officials who take advantage of this, and those who use them for slave labor are despicable and ought to be punished severely. But, without someone addressing the root cause you are only treating the symptoms.

Same issue in Europe. The clowns at the EC want to "impose" quotas on member states to get rid of the symptoms. Then pat themselves on the back. But, the illness will simply get worse unless the causes are treated.

Myanmar would be happy if all these people left their territory and don't give a f*** what happens to them when they do.

[JOC]

They are going to have a meeting in 2 weeks ??

There are presently 8000 people sitting in floating prisons offshore Thailand.

Indonesia and Malaysia are turning boats back to sea!!

By the time they have their meeting, I am afraid, many of the poor refugees will be dead.

[slipperx]

The root cause is racism, nationalism and protectionism - all of which seem to be on the rise everywhere.

People are people and that's that and they do not deserve to be treated like animals. I think the countries involved all have their issues, more at government level than the average person which results is banging the drum of nationalism. The Chinese Thai have been encouraging that for years on the basis that by doing so they can avoid competition from everyone else and be free to run and scavenge the country themselves.