Thousands of Rohingya migrants are stranded at sea as migrants are being pushed back by Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. For more than a week, the migrants have been abandoned on open boats with no food and water.
Boats filled with hundreds of migrants are drifting in the Andaman Sea. These migrants currently have no food, water, and country that will take them. Most of the migrants are Rohingya, or Burmese Muslims, who face systematic discrimination due to their minority status in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar. The Rohingya fled from Myanmar to escape persecution. Traffickers take many of the minority groups into different countries, but Thailand's government has been cracking down on human trafficking camps. This activity has caused traffickers to force their "cargo" onto boats and into the sea. Many of the boats currently in the Andaman Sea were abandoned by traffickers, with hundreds of Rohingya still onboard.
Traffickers abuse many of the individuals who are trafficked. Often times the Rohingya run out of money and fall into debt, then they are held as hostages until friends and family pay the ransom. The Rohingya have faced violence and oppression in Myanmar due to their minority status. In the past few years, the discrimination led to hundreds of Rohingya deaths and has left thousands of the minorities homeless.
Human rights organizations around the world have responded to the crisis, urging the nations of Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia to allow the ships to land. Allegedly some of the passengers that died on the ship were thrown overboard due to overcrowded and unsanitary conditions on the boats.
"The Burmese government has created this crisis with their continued persecution of the Rohingya. Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia have made things much worse with cold-hearted policies to push back this new wave of "boat people' that puts thousands of lives at risk. Other governments should urge the three governments to work together to rescue these desperate people and offer them humanitarian aid, help in processing claims, and resettlement places for those in need of international protection," said Phil Robertson, the Deputy Asia Director of the Human Rights Watch.
Thailand, though not allowing the boats to land, delivered food and water to some of the packed boats. It is unclear exactly how many people are stranded on the boats, but groups estimate the number is in the thousands. The United Nations Secretary General also urged the surrounding nations to follow international law and rescue those stranded at sea. A regional conference will be held on May 29 in Thailand to discuss the immigration issue.
