Philippines offers shelter

The Philippines yesterday said it was ready to shelter the Rohingyas and Bangladeshi migrants stranded in the Andaman Sea and the Straits of Malacca if the boats carrying them landed on the Philippine shores.

"If there are boatpeople who come to us seeking the protection of our government, there is a process, there are existing mechanisms on how to handle these refugees or asylum seekers," said the Philippines Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Monday.

Meanwhile, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said it would repatriate the Bangladeshis rescued from the boats in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

The development comes as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand are turning away the boats crammed with people from Myanmar and Bangladesh.               

In fear of arrest, the traffickers and crewmen abandoned a number of boats that were on the sea, leaving the victims in total uncertainty, according to IOM. 

The UN yesterday said at least 2,000 migrants stalked by hunger and violence have been trapped for weeks on boats off Myanmar, the UN said yesterday.

Vivian Tan, a spokeswoman for the UN's refugee agency the UNHCR, told AFP they had received reports that at least 2,000 migrants had been "stranded on at least five boats near the Myanmar-Bangladesh coasts for more than 40 days".

Reports of "food shortages, dehydration and violence" were a cause of "great concern", she added saying passengers should be allowed to disembark.

But the boats are still controlled by people-traffickers who will only let passengers return to land after they have paid between $180 and $270 each, she added.

Philippines Justice Secretary De Lima in a statement said boatpeople could be victims of persecution.

She recalled the Philippines had its share of hosting asylum seekers in the past even before it became a signatory to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees that was adopted on July 22, 1981. 

Meanwhile, Asif Munier, spokesman for the IOM in Bangladesh, said following requests from Bangladesh government, the IOM has decided to repatriate the people rescued recently off Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

"[The] IOM is already registering them. But it will repatriate the Bangladeshis only after the Bangladesh government identifies them," he told The Daily Star.

He said the inter-governmental agency had released an emergency fund of $1 million to this end.

UN AGENCIES FOR PROTECTING MIGRANTS
The UNHCR, the OHCHR, the IOM and Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children (SRSG) yesterday strongly urged Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand to protect the drifting migrants and refugees, give priority on saving lives and human dignity.

In a joint statement yesterday, the UN agencies called on the leaders of the three nations to allow men, women and children on overcrowded boats to disembark safely.

'TRAFFICKING KINGPIN' HELD
Thailand yesterday arrested a suspected human trafficker, Pajjuban Angchotephan, also known by the alias of Ko Tong, after a brief manhunt along the Thai and Malaysian border, reports The Nation newspaper.

Police rejected the bail plea of Pajjuban, a former local politician in Satun, and detained him at the Provincial Police Region 9.
Police have also obtained arrest warrants for Pajjuban's wife, Thassanee, and a police officer based in Ranong, Lieutenant Narathorn Samphan.