Malaysia turns away boat with more than 500 migrants

[webfact]

Malaysia turns away boat with more than 500 migrants
EILEEN NG, Associated Press

LANGKAWI, Malaysia (AP) — Thousands of Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshi abandoned at sea had nowhere to turn Thursday as Malaysia turned away a boat crammed with more than 500 migrants, saying it could not afford to keep being nice.

Indonesia and Thailand also appeared unwilling to provide refuge to men, women and children, despite appeals by the U.N. High Commission for Refugees, international aid agencies and rights activists, who warned lives were at risk.

Fearing arrests, captains tied to trafficking networks have in recent days abandoned ships in the busy Malacca Strait and surrounding waters, leaving behind their human cargo, in many cases with little food or water, according to survivors.

Around 1,600 have been rescued, but an estimated 6,000 remain stranded at sea.

Malaysian Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi said those on board the boat found Wednesday off the cost of northern Penang state — three days after more than a thousand refugees landed on nearby Langkawi island — were given provisions and then sent on their way.

"What do you expect us to do?" he said. "We have been very nice to the people who broke into our border. We have treated them humanely but they cannot be flooding our shores like this."

"We have to send the right message that they are not welcome here," he said.

Southeast Asia, which for years tried to quietly ignore the plight of Myanmar's 1.3 million Rohingya, now finds itself caught in a spiraling humanitarian crisis that in many ways it helped create.

In the last three years, more than 120,000 members of the Muslim minority have boarded ships to flee to other countries, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

But no governments in the region appear willing to take them in, fearing that accepting a few would result in an unstoppable flow of poor, uneducated migrants. At the same time, they have for years bowed to the wishes of Myanmar at regional conferences, avoiding all discussions of state-sponsored discrimination against the Rohingya.

Denied citizenship by national law, members of the Rohingya minority are effectively stateless. They have limited access to education or adequate health care and cannot move around freely. They have been attacked by the military and chased from their homes and land by extremist Buddhist mobs.

With the crisis now reaching a crescendo, Thailand said it would hold an emergency meeting later this month in Bangkok to discuss the exodus and "root causes." Representatives from 15 countries, including the U.S. and Australia, are expected to attend.

Thailand reiterated this week that its policy is to "help on" boat people, giving those who end up in their waters food, water and other provisions, and then sending them on their way.

Indonesia, which has taken 600 Rohingya and Bangaleshis on Sunday, later turned away a boat. But a foreign ministry spokesman denied Wednesday it had a "push back" policy, saying the Malaysian-bound vessel strayed into its waters by accident.

"This is a grave humanitarian crisis demanding an immediate response," said Matthew Smith, executive director of non-profit human rights group Fortify Rights. "Lives are on the line. Regional governments should act decisively to rescue and protect asylum seekers and trafficking survivors, not drive them back out to sea."

Increasingly over the years, Rohingya boarding boats in the Bay of Bengal have been joined by people from neighboring Bangladeshi, most of them seeking an escape from poverty.

For those fleeing, the first stop until recently was Thailand, where migrants were held in jungle camps until their families could raise hefty ransoms so they could continue onward. Recent security crackdowns forced the smugglers to change tactics, instead holding people on large ships parked offshore.

Initially they were shuttled to shore in groups on smaller boats after their "ransoms" were paid. But as agents and brokers on land got spooked by arrests — not just of traffickers but also police and politicians — they went into hiding.

That created a bottleneck, with migrants stuck on boats for weeks.

Malaysia, which is not a signatory of international conventions on refugees, is host to more than 150,000 refugees and asylum seekers, the majority who are from Myanmar. More than 45,000 of them are Rohingyas, according to the U.N. refugee agency.
___

Associated Press writers Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Thanyarat Doksone om Bangkok, Thailand, contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-05-14

[craigt3365]

Oh my gosh. 45,000 Rohingyas refugees in Malaysia? Wow....

[ABCer]

Oh my gosh. 45,000 Rohingyas refugees in Malaysia? Wow....

Malaysians are Muslims.

Rohingyas are Muslims.

Only to non-Muslims it can look strange that Malaysia does not want Rohingyas.

Could it be that one is afraid of the other?

I am not a Muslim. I have been to Malaysia. I have enjoyed the visit. I felt rather safe. May we keep it this way?

Stop throwing stones at Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Burma and so on.

[craigt3365]

Ummm....understood. Been to Malaysia several times. Along with many other Muslim countries.

Who's throwing stones? Other than those who want human trafficking stopped? And to arrest those who profit from this horrible activity.

[otherstuff1957]

Here's a solution:

Order a few dozen of these, load them up with food, water and refugees and tow them to Europe! They will be given housing, food, money and guarantees of jobs within 9 months!

[dcutman]

Oh my gosh. 45,000 Rohingyas refugees in Malaysia? Wow....

Malaysians are Muslims.

Rohingyas are Muslims.

Only to non-Muslims it can look strange that Malaysia does not want Rohingyas.

Could it be that one is afraid of the other?

I am not a Muslim. I have been to Malaysia. I have enjoyed the visit. I felt rather safe. May we keep it this way?

Stop throwing stones at Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Burma and so on.

Are you implying Rohingya are a dangerous people?

Up until the last few days Malaysia has had no problem accepting these people, in fact many industries enjoy huge profits from their sweat. Not to mention the overwhelming need Malaysia has for foreign labor to keep these industries going. https://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=3924

There are more than a few industries in Thailand have enjoyed the slave labor of the Rohingya as well. Not to mention the hundreds possibly thousands of Thai's that have profited from the trafficking and abuse of these people for decades.

[Deli]

European as well as Asian countries must push these boats back to avoid internal unrest. Boat people or possible future boat people must understand that they don't find open doors and open arms, when trying to enter illegally another country. Only if this is very clear to them, they maybe will stop their illegal attempt of migration.

Only controlled and legal immigration will be accepted by the majority and therefor can lead to growth and stability of those countries, who are able and willing to accept migrants. Forcing Governments to accept certain numbers of migrants ( like they plan in the EU now ) is a very bad idea.

Let Myanmar deal with this ( his ) problem, as other countries in the past had to learn to deal with theirs as well.

[samran]

European as well as Asian countries must push these boats back to avoid internal unrest. Boat people or possible future boat people must understand that they don't find open doors and open arms, when trying to enter illegally another country. Only if this is very clear to them, they maybe will stop their illegal attempt of migration.

Only controlled and legal immigration will be accepted by the majority and therefor can lead to growth and stability of those countries, who are able and willing to accept migrants. Forcing Governments to accept certain numbers of migrants ( like they plan in the EU now ) is a very bad idea.

Let Myanmar deal with this ( his ) problem, as other countries in the past had to learn to deal with theirs as well.

Easy to say when you were at least born entitled to one nationality.

These sods, of all people, deserve a bit of sympathy given they aren't even recognised as citizens in the country they and their great grandparents were born in...

[skildpadden]

I am left wondering where ASEAN is in all this mess (and Malaysia currently chairs ASEAN).

If comparing with the Mediterranean boat refugees, the EU is at least trying to do a concerted effort and involving its member states in the issue, but in this case ASEAN is keeping very silent and it is most often refugees from one ASEAN country to another (although Myanmar doesn’t recognize Rohingya as Myanmar citizens).

If they cannot address this humanitarian issue then how ASEAN be trusted with implementing AEC?

[samran]

European as well as Asian countries must push these boats back to avoid internal unrest. Boat people or possible future boat people must understand that they don't find open doors and open arms, when trying to enter illegally another country. Only if this is very clear to them, they maybe will stop their illegal attempt of migration.

Only controlled and legal immigration will be accepted by the majority and therefor can lead to growth and stability of those countries, who are able and willing to accept migrants. Forcing Governments to accept certain numbers of migrants ( like they plan in the EU now ) is a very bad idea.

Let Myanmar deal with this ( his ) problem, as other countries in the past had to learn to deal with theirs as well.

Easy to say when you were at least born entitled to one nationality.

These sods, of all people, deserve a bit of sympathy given they aren't even recognised as citizens in the country they and their great grandparents were born in...

YOU take care of them then.....My country fought, starved to create what they have.

Do you want me to wave a british flag and sing 'rule Brittania?'

Anyway, Thailand finally is stepping up to the plate and proposing settlement camps. Already gives special work right to those from poorer countries around it...

But facts have never been your forte have they Trans?

[samran]

I grew up in England, had to eat cabbage and beef dripping, my mum had bits of bicycle tyre nailed to her shoes to go to school..........WE moved on and have what we have now.

If we didn't move on these folk would move on to make THEIR country better as my folk did.

Is this where we play the Four Yorkshiremen skit?

I'll type this for you slowly Trans. Special person you are and all...

They are not even considered citizens in THEIR own country. Bit hard to move up the ladder of opportunity when you aren't even allowed to work in your own land, let alone get an education.

Edited May 14, 2015 by samran

[maidee]

send them to ............ muslim countries ?

they can take care of their brothers...

EUROPE, are you sleeping ? take note please

[samran]

I am not a citizen in LOS......Been here a looooooooong time but looked at as an alien.....I take nothing, LOS gives me nothing.

Fanks for talking slowly...........

BUT, you cannot see that folk are trying to "milk" millionaire folks life, that for many has/is costing dear....

You really aren't too bright are you? We are talking about Rohingya in Myanmar here....you realise that don't you?

[Scott]

That will be the last post in that bicker-fest.

Please get back to the topic.

[Saraphee]

These sad folk are not migrants - they are 'Eye eyes' (illegal immigrants).

There seem to be two categories involved here.

Pressure should be put on the governments responsible to recognise their 'stateless' citizens correctly and with due process.

The costs involved with this to be charged to the country involved.

Economic migrants should always be returned to the country of origin and the costs involved in processing and returning them charged to that country.

There are many side issues, not the least of which who would/could police this - but that's my view.

Traffickers should face live sentences, confiscation of all property plus other punitive deterrents.

[Happy Grumpy]

Remember when the Royal Thai Navy systematically towed 1000 of them (men, women and children) out to the middle of the ocean, removed their engines, removed all food and water, then set them adrift to die, in December 2008?

Those were the days, eh.

[ezzra]

The problem is that there is no end to the migrants problems, they will never stop leaving their homes

for better places, there are millions of them and millions more are ready to move at the drop of a hat,

they all want to immigrate to well hilled, rich countries, whereby the populations of said countries

worked very hard of generations to make their country what it is today and than come these people

from a forth world country with no money no skills or educations and want to be treated as equal, and

enjoy the trappings of the new country,,

If there was an end to these migrants that ok, but there isn't, you will take in few hundreds thousands

and same number if not more will follow,

Take Australia for example, Australia took in many hundreds of thousand, and until they have shut

their borders, only than they have stopped...

The world simply can't solve or help a mass , uncontrolled migrations, each country with possible

migrants problems should solve it's own problems and dump their people on other nations,,,,

[Credo]

This is a little different than a lot of the recent refugee situations. These people do not have a country to return to. Once they have left Myanmar, they will not be allowed to return because they are not citizens. The Vietnamese who weren't resettled were ultimately returned to Vietnam. Many of the Bosniacs were eventually returned to Bosnia. The list can go on. Once the situation in their home country is rectified, they could go home.

The Rohingyas have no home to return to.

[samran]

This is a little different than a lot of the recent refugee situations. These people do not have a country to return to. Once they have left Myanmar, they will not be allowed to return because they are not citizens. The Vietnamese who weren't resettled were ultimately returned to Vietnam. Many of the Bosniacs were eventually returned to Bosnia. The list can go on. Once the situation in their home country is rectified, they could go home.

The Rohingyas have no home to return to.

Say it ain't so? What about all the Thai Visa economic migrants who simply wash up here sight unseen with 20,000 quid in the bank and a passport from a western country telling us that the Rohingyahas are just another bunch of smelly illegals who should fix up their homes first (ignoring the junta waving guns at them and burning down their houses?).

Surely the TV squad know better?

[ggt]

Around 1,600 have been rescued, but an estimated 6,000 remain stranded at sea...

The world has gone bonkers...we can not afford to allow people to die because it is inconvenient to help take care of them...

Sham on you...all you countries who will not find a better way to deal with this conflict...

I predict that it will come back on your head...your own demise...at some point in time...because of your callousness toward your fellowman in need...

[fabphil]

As long as they dont come to oz and some bleeding heart lets them stay, any why dont the U.N. High Commission for Refugees, international aid agencies and rights activists, go and buy some island in the middle of nowhere and they can do what they want...

[lemonjelly]

They are human beings, stateless, persecuted, trying to escape to a better life, wouldn't any of us try and do the same?

Have a heart guys, there's men,women and kids dying of dehydration on boats drifting at sea, abandoned by smugglers, it's heart wrenching. I think any of us, no matter how hardman we talk, would be reduced to tears if we were on one of those boats witnessing the humanitarian disaster unfolding off the coast of Lipe right now.

[Jeffreyake]

instead of of making vague statements like this:
But no governments in the region appear willing to take them in, fearing that accepting a few would result in an unstoppable flow of poor, uneducated migrants

why don't you admit a simple fact: Rohingya is a violent extremist uneducated minority which get use to parasitize on the host nation. That's why no one want them at his home. That's why nobody need free Rohingya workers, same as no sane person would welcome gipsy workers in his homeland.

Just send them all to Europe, I am sure those kind Europeans from international non-profit human rights organizations will be happy to accept them in their welfare states!

for example that nice gentleman, Matthew Smith, executive director of non-profit human rights group Fortify Rights. Where is he from? Why does not he (and his organization) just bring a few hundred of charming Rohingyas to there homeland, instead of giving unsolicited advices to independent Asian governments?

Edited May 14, 2015 by Jeffreyake

[samran]

instead of of making vague statements like this:

But no governments in the region appear willing to take them in, fearing that accepting a few would result in an unstoppable flow of poor, uneducated migrants

why don't you admit a simple fact: Rohingya is a violent extremist uneducated minority which get use to parasitize on the host nation. That's why no one want them at his home. That's why nobody need free Rohingya workers, same as no sane person would welcome gipsy workers in his homeland.

Just send them all to Europe, I am sure those kind Europeans from international non-profit human rights organizations will be happy to accept them in their welfare states!

for example that nice gentleman, Matthew Smith, executive director of non-profit human rights group Fortify Rights. Where is he from? Why does not he (and his organization) just bring a few hundred of charming Rohingyas to there homeland, instead of giving unsolicited advices to independent Asian governments?

From vauge statements to sweeping statements I guess. Where did you get your 'facts' from?

[Jeffreyake]

From vauge statements to sweeping statements I guess. Where did you get your 'facts' from?

try to read what Burmese people write about Rohyngya. There are dozens of different ethnicity in Burma, some of them are Christian and Muslim, but only Rohyngyas are hated by most of their neighbors.

Did you ever tried to think why?

[Trouble]

Maybe the international community needs to put the pressure on Myanmar to do right. The USA and others (including ASEAN countries) should put them on the list, if they aren't already, as violators of human rights and impose sanctions if they to not right the wrongs. Easy fix but no one willing to stand up to Myanmar because of opportunity for business deals, trade, etc. all for greed. Somewhat disheartening that the international community is so impotent it can't put pressure on a two bit country like Myanmar to right this wrong.

[Jeffreyake]

Maybe the international community needs to put the pressure on Myanmar to do right. The USA and others (including ASEAN countries) should put them on the list, if they aren't already, as violators of human rights and impose sanctions if they to not right the wrongs. Easy fix but no one willing to stand up to Myanmar because of opportunity for business deals, trade, etc. all for greed. Somewhat disheartening that the international community is so impotent it can't put pressure on a two bit country like Myanmar to right this wrong.

Why don't USA just accept all Rohingya as refugees if they want to help them, instead of trying to manipulate independent nations? if you do so, Myanmar will build an Obama's bronze statue .

I't easy to be merciful on expense of others...

[cookee68]

And we should do the same to all the Muslim that are trying to sneak into the UK as well, and all the Muslims from Syria trying to get into Europe, send them back to, who knows what scum and terrorist are in those boats, better safe than sorry, if all the other Muslims can do it to their own, so should we, lets see what Cameron does with his knew 5 years in power, is he full of shit, or does he do what the people voted him in to do, we have to stop being nice too.

[metisdead]

An inflammatory post has been removed as well as a reply.

[samran]

As long as they dont come to oz and some bleeding heart lets them stay, any why dont the U.N. High Commission for Refugees, international aid agencies and rights activists, go and buy some island in the middle of nowhere and they can do what they want...

Indeed. Bloody reffos

http://m.smh.com.au/business/retail/menulog-sale-means-millions-for-russian-refugee-leon-kamenev-20150513-gh1a4j.html