IRREGULAR MIGRATION
Pressure on Myanmar to deal with migrants
THE NATION, AGENCIES



Nay Pyi Taw softens stance but rules out recognising Rohingya; more arrests made in Thai crackdown on trafficking

BANGKOK: -- ALL ROADS lead to Myanmar as ministers from Asean countries and a senior official from the United States head to Nay Pyi Taw for intensive diplomatic talks to find a solution to the migrants exodus to Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, four suspects wanted in connection with the alleged trafficking of migrants turned themselves in to Thai police and five were arrested.

A day after their joint announcement to provide temporary shelters to some 7,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants, foreign ministers Anifah Aman of Malaysia and Retno Marsudi of Indonesia were due to hold talks in Myanmar.

A statement from Malaysia's Foreign Ministry said Anifah had arrived in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday to meet his Myanmar counterpart Wunna Maung Lwin to discuss and exchange views on the issue of irregular movement of people, in particular human trafficking and people smuggling in Southeast Asia.

US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken was also to meet with Myanmar officials today to urge the country to cooperate with Bangladesh, particularly to rescue and provide immediate relief to migrants adrift.

"We will be talking directly to the government of Myanmar about its own responsibilities to improve conditions in Rakhine state so that people don't feel that their only choice is to put their lives at risk by leaving and taking to the sea," Blinken said during a stop on Wednesday in Jakarta. The State Department's deputy spokesperson, Marie Harf, said "the US stands ready to help the countries of the region bear the burden and save lives today. We have a common obligation to answer the call of these migrants".

Myanmar is considered as the origin of the problem, as Rohingya are fleeing the country due to its policy of not recognising them as an ethnic group who are Myanmar citizens.

Nay Pyi Taw has softened its stance on extending humanitarian assistance to the boat people but insisted the Rohingya are illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.

"If they are going to discuss about Rohingya, as we have said before, we do not accept that term here," said Zaw Htay, director of the presidential office.

But he confirmed that Myanmar would attend a broader regional forum planned on the crisis in Bangkok on May 29, along with senior officials from 17 countries including a high-level US delegation and experts from United Nations agencies on refugees and trans-border crimes will be present.

Meanwhile Thai Immigration police have been assigned to prepare documents for 318 detained Rohingya immigrants to be ready in case a third country agrees to accept their transfer, said national police chief Somyot Poompanmuang. Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan issued the order in response to reports that many countries are willing to accept the migrants.

Some 25,000 migrants are believed to have made the dangerous boat trips from Bangladesh and Myanmar since October last year. More than 7,000 of them are believed to adrift at sea. Hundreds were rescued in Indonesia on Wednesday and survivors said they had floated away from Thai waters.

Deputy Government Spokesman Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd yesterday dismissed as untrue foreign news reports quoting a Rohingya as claiming the Thai military had threatened to sink a boat he was on if the vessel did not leave Thai waters on May 14. The Navy personnel helped fix the vessel's engines for several hours until 3am that night apart from providing food and water on humanitarian grounds, he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Pressure-on-Myanmar-to-deal-with-migrants-30260670.html

-- The Nation 2015-05-22

Thailand looks very hypocritical and preposterous not to take its responsibility up front. What about the mass graves and human trafficking sales and camps in the Thai south?

Thailand looks very hypocritical and preposterous not to take its responsibility up front. What about the mass graves and human trafficking sales and camps in the Thai south?

The BIB were too busy with political unrest, getting team money on helmet days etc and stopping me in roadblocks that never seem to affect other posters.

Myanmar IS the root cause of the Roningya problem.

Lack of jobs in Bangladesh is one of many causes

of the Bangla migrant problem...aka...the grass is

always greener across the fence/septic tank.

The generals running Burma will bend & sway

with the international community for face value

while nothing gets done internally. Kinda like

the Thai generals now running this country.

The Thai foreign mininster had to call his boss

before he made a so called committment in a

loosely worded statement that Thailand would

accept some of the migrants IAW the KL meeting

specs & treat all of them humanely.

In other words...Can I say this boss?

I can only wonder what the Thai position on this mess

would be if the migrants & refugees were Buddhist

instead of Muslim....I reckon the stories we're

reading & hearing about would be quite different.

BOAT PEOPLE
Myanmar plans to join Bangkok meeting
Soe Min Htike
Myanmar Eleven

Nay Pyi Taw: -- Myanmar plans to attend the regional meeting on irregular migration in Bangkok on May 29, said Ye Htut, the president's spokesperson and information minister.

There will be further discussion as who will lead the regional meeting and which countries will play host to the migrants, he added.

"We have to handle the case with a long-term plan. We pointed out that it is important for all countries in the region to vanquish human trafficking gangs to solve the boat people problem," he said.

Boat people was one of the issues Myanmar President Thein Sein and US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed yesterday in Nay Pyi Taw. In the meeting that lasted over an hour, they also discussed the upcoming general election in Myanmar, amendments to the 2008 Constitution, and relations between Myanmar and the US. Present at the meeting were ministers for home affairs, defence, foreign affairs and information as well as president's office ministers.

The boat people claimed that they are the Rohingya from Myanmar. However, Myanmar authorities do not recognise their existence, regarding them as illegal migrants from Bangladesh and calling them "Bengali". Hundreds of the Rohingya and Bangladeshis were rescued off the coast of Indonesia and Malaysia in the past two weeks and thousands are believed to be stranded in the sea as their smugglers avoid crackdown by Thailand, the major transit country.

"We discussed the Bengali issues with the US diplomat. The US urged quick humanitarian assistance. We told them that we need to check first whether they are Myanmar citizens. If they are our citizens, we will take care of them," said Ye Htut.

He added that if the refugees are located in Myanmar territorial waters, they will be taken care of before sent back to their home countries.

Thein Sein appointed Vice President Nyan Tun to investigate the nationality of the migrants located in the Myanmar waters.

Blinken is scheduled to hold a press conference today at 3pm in Yangon.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Myanmar-plans-to-join-Bangkok-meeting-30260690.html

-- The Nation 2015-05-22

These are black days for ASEAN showing it as merely a business block. In the absence of China, as a super power to use its diplomacy, the United States filled the vacuum and brought this impotent collection South East Asian nations to heel.

Now Myanmar will be reminded that towing the line on human rights is a condition to receiving aid for its growing economy.

"We discussed the Bengali issues with the US diplomat. The US urged quick humanitarian assistance. We told them that we need to check first whether they are Myanmar citizens. If they are our citizens, we will take care of them," said Ye Htut."

Interesting statement, get out of jail free!!!

Effectively he is saying that as we don't reconise Rohingya as Myanmar citizens it is not our problem!

They wont take them back!

Well sorry but it is your problem!

When a government has no moral compass...no conscious...no compassion...you get a lack of acceptance of responsibility for wrongdoing...

The leaders of Myanmar are antique, ignorant, relics of past generations...it will take some tender loving care to bring them kicking and screaming into the 21st century...IMHO