Thailand urges international action on flood of refugees
Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai urged unity among Southeast Asian nations contending with a flood of migration from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
During a forum Friday in Bangkok,聽Mr. Don said a would be needed to deal with the tens of thousands of people who brave perilous journeys to find refuge every year.
"It's clear that we need an explicit and efficient mechanism to manage and control the negative impacts of irregular migration," the minister said in opening remarks to the international assembly, according to Reuters.
The meeting was the second held since May after Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia closed their borders using naval blockades, resulting in more than 4,000 migrants being trapped at sea. According to the (IOM), hundreds of desperate refugees were lost on the open waters, as well as in jungle camps.
During the meeting on 鈥渋rregular migration鈥� William Lacy Swing, the IOM鈥檚 director general, indicated those kinds of actions would need to be reversed to assuage the crisis. He instead encouraged a more measured approach, through short-term and seasonal work visas and temporary refuge.
鈥淢igration is not a problem to be solved, but a phenomenon to be managed.鈥� .
Mr. Swing noted 8,000 people were stranded at sea during the blockade鈥檚 peak, and says plans for regional cooperation would help offset future catastrophes. Obstructing the migrants from reaching shore led unscrupulous traffickers to abandon the migrants, according to Reuters.
鈥淏ad policies are unintentionally subsidizing the smugglers,鈥� Swing said. 鈥淲e need to reduce the drivers of desperation, because it is scandalous that we are losing 5,000 migrants globally every year. It doesn鈥檛 have to be like this.鈥�
, where roughly 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims have been fleeing government-backed ethnic oppression. Bangladeshis have also been pouring out of their impoverished country. The most active smuggling period takes place in October and November, Reuters said.
Swing also called for long-term solutions, noting that a legal framework would need to be reached to further curb human smuggling.
"The time for promises has passed," Don said. 鈥淣ow is the time for action. Therefore, it's my hope that today's discussion will result in concrete and goal-oriented actions that countries can start implementing, not in some distant future, but today and now."
鈥淚f you give us full access, we can often help you to understand the needs,鈥� Swing told the congregation that included international organizations and government representatives from Australian, Indonesian, Malaysia, Bangladeshi, Myanmar, and Thailand.聽
