KL presses Myanmar over migrant crisis

Malaysia yesterday pressed Myanmar to engage in talks on Southeast Asia's boat-people influx, warning it may otherwise call an emergency meeting on the unfolding humanitarian crisis.

"If necessary, we will call for an emergency (regional) meeting," Foreign Minister Anifah Aman was quoted as saying by the state-run Bernama news agency.

Anifah said Malaysia as chair of regional grouping ASEAN "hopes Myanmar can sit together to find a solution before it is brought to the international level".

Malaysia had earlier announced that Anifah would host a meeting on Wednesday with his Indonesian and Thai counterparts, writes AFP.

The three nations have sparked outrage by turning away vessels overloaded with migrants from Myanmar's ethnic Rohingya minority and with poor Bangladeshis.

Nearly 3,000 such migrants have swum to shore or been rescued off Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand over the past week.

All three nations along with Myanmar are among the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Along with criticism of recipient nations, attention is increasingly being focused on Myanmar's much-criticised treatment of its Muslim ethnic Rohingya minority -- which is blamed for fuelling the mass migration.

Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday pointed the finger squarely at Myanmar.

Hasina Begum, a rescued migrant Rohingya woman, grieves for her brother at a shelter in Indonesia's Aceh province Saturday. Hasina's brother Abdullah was thrown in the sea after he was killed by some other migrants during a bloody struggle for survival on their boat. Photo: AFP

"We want their [Rohingya] influx to be brought under control before it becomes a big burden to [Malaysia]," he said, according to Bernama.

He also took a swipe at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) which earlier criticised the boat push-backs, saying the agency "is not that effective".

Anifah will host Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and their Thai counterpart Tanasak Patimapragorn for talks in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday in response to the migrant crisis, a foreign ministry official said.

Recently arrived migrants have recounted grim stories of people dying at sea of starvation, sickness or drowning when rickety boats sank.

Migrants rescued from a sinking boat off Indonesia have told the BBC that about 100 people died after a fight broke out over the last remaining food.

Survivors told of horrific conditions. Three men separately said people were stabbed, hanged or thrown overboard.

The 700 rescued migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh are being processed by the Indonesian authorities.

Thousands of migrants are estimated to be adrift in South East Asian waters, denied permission to land.

The BBC's Martin Patience, who spoke to some of the survivors in the Indonesian port of Langsa, cautions that their accounts cannot be verified.

However, three migrants made similar statements in separate conversations.

If true, the claims will add to the growing international pressure on Asian countries to find a solution to this crisis, our correspondent says.

The migrants had wanted to land in Malaysia but say they were driven away by the Malaysian navy.

The boat had reportedly been at sea for two months and had been recently deserted by its crew when it was rescued by Indonesian fishermen on Friday.

The survivors are now being sheltered in warehouses on the shore in Langsa. Many are suffering from malnutrition and dehydration.

On Saturday, the Myanmar government said it was not responsible for the migrant boat crisis and said it might not attend a forthcoming summit on the issue.

Myanmar has previously steadfastly refused to discuss the issue in regional forums. It considers Rohingya to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, denying them citizenship, and disavows responsibility for them.

It has already said it may snub an invitation from Thailand to attend the May 29 meeting there to address the crisis.

Rohingya Muslims have been fleeing Buddhist-majority Myanmar - also known as Burma - because they are not recognised as citizens and face persecution.

Many of the Bangladeshis at sea are thought to be economic migrants.

Early yesterday, there were reported to be at least five people-smuggling boats, carrying up to 1,000 migrants, moored just off the northern coast of Myanmar.

Because Thailand and Malaysia are stopping the boats landing, the smugglers are now reluctant to make the journey but are refusing to release those on board unless ransoms are paid, says the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Myanmar's main city, Yangon (Rangoon).