Thai official warns of ‘alarming level’ of boat people

Thailand’s Foreign Minister said Friday that the upsurge of boat people in Southeast Asia has reached an “alarming level,” and called for governments in the region to address the root causes of the crisis — a reference to the swelling number of refugees who have fled persecution in Myanmar. Asian nations have been struggling in the face of growing waves of desperate migrants who are landing on the shores of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand in growing numbers. In the last few weeks alone, at least 3,000 people have washed ashore or been rescued by fishermen and several thousand more are believed to still be at sea after human smugglers abandoned boats amid a regional crackdown.

No country can solve this problem alone.

Foreign Minister Thanasak Patimaprakorn

Some are Bangladeshis who left their impoverished homeland in hope of finding jobs abroad. But many are minority Rohingya Muslims who have fled persecution in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, which has denied them basic rights, confined more than 100,000 to camps, and denies them citizenship. There are more than 1 million Rohingya living in Myanmar. Rohingya have fled Myanmar and for years, and Southeast Asia has quietly ignored the issue. The problem has attracted international attention amid increased media scrutiny in recent months.

Migrant crisis Asia-Pacific