Sunday, May 17, 2015 2:08:13 AM
Myanmar Collects Temporary ID Cards from Rohingya Muslims
Radio Free Asia
Published on Apr 1, 2015
A recent Amnesty International report says the situation for Rohingyas in Myanmar is deteriorating.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVTpKP-KpH8
~~~
Boat With Hundreds of Migrants From Myanmar Heads Farther Out to Sea
By THOMAS FULLERMAY 15, 2015
Migrants from Bangladesh helped a friend who fainted after arrival Friday in Langsa, Indonesia.
Thousands from Myanmar and Bangladesh are on the move. Credit Binsar Bakkara/Associated Press
LIPE ISLAND, Thailand — A wooden fishing boat carrying hundreds of desperate migrants from Myanmar .. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/myanmar/index.html?inline=nyt-geo .. moved farther out to sea on Friday after the Thai authorities concluded that the passengers wanted to continue their journey, instead of disembarking in Thailand .. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/thailand/index.html?inline=nyt-geo , according to an aid group involved in negotiations over the vessel’s future.
But a Thai reporter who witnessed the boat’s departure said that some of those aboard did not appear to want to leave.
The vessel, which passengers said had been turned away from Malaysia, is part of a rickety flotilla from Myanmar and Bangladesh carrying thousands of migrants, many of them Rohingya Muslims, fleeing persecution or economic hardship, with no country willing to take them in.
Related:
Rohingya Migrants From Myanmar, Shunned by Malaysia, Are Spotted Adrift in Andaman Sea MAY 14, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/15/world/asia/burmese-rohingya-bangladeshi-migrants-andaman-sea.html
Rohingya Refugees From Myanmar Have Been Persecuted for Decades MAY 12, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/world/asia/myanmar-rohingya-refugees-rakhine-burma.html
Migrants at Sea, Up Close: Reporter’s Notebook MAY 15, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/times-insider/2015/05/15/migrants-at-sea-up-close-reporters-notebook/
Another boat carrying at least 660 migrants landed in Indonesia on Friday morning after being rescued by local fishermen, a United Nations official said. And an Indonesian military spokesman said that the Indonesian Navy had intercepted a third boat carrying hundreds of others in the Strait of Malacca on Friday morning and was preventing it from coming ashore.
Rohingya migrants swam to collect food supplies dropped by a Thai Army helicopter in the
Andaman Sea on Thursday. Credit Christophe Archambault/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
In an escalating regionwide crisis, an estimated 6,000 to 20,000 people fleeing ethnic persecution in Myanmar and poverty in Bangladesh are said to be on boats in the Andaman Sea and the Strait of Malacca. Some have been abandoned by their traffickers with little food or water.
In a statement on Friday, the United Nations’ human rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, rebuked Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia for turning back the vessels. “I am appalled at reports that Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia have been pushing boats full of vulnerable migrants back out to sea, which will inevitably lead to many avoidable deaths,” he said. “The focus should be on saving lives, not further endangering them.”
VIDEO 1:00 - Myanmar Migrants Spotted in Andaman Sea
A wooden fishing boat carrying several hundred migrants from Myanmar was seen adrift west of the Thai mainland on Thursday. By Thomas Fuller on Publish Date May 14, 2015. Photo by Thomas Fuller/The New York Times.
Mr. al-Hussein also emphasized Myanmar’s responsibility in the unfolding crisis, saying that until its government addressed “the institutional discrimination against the Rohingya population, including equal access to citizenship, this precarious migration will continue.”
The boat left Thailand’s waters Friday after the Thai Navy repaired its engine and provided food, water, batteries and enough fuel for 33 hours of travel, said Lt. Cmdr. Veerapong Nakprasit, the commander of a Thai naval base here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Graphic - Understanding Southeast Asia’s Migrant Crisis
About 25,000 migrants left Myanmar and Bangladesh on rickety smugglers’ boats in the first three months of 2015, according to a United Nations estimate.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/05/14/world/asia/Understanding-Southeast-Asias-Migrant-Crisis.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The boat is without qualified crew; the captain and five other crew members abandoned the vessel last week, according to passengers. But Commander Veerapong said the navy had trained the passengers “so they can reach their dream destination. We have verified that they can navigate on their own.”
He did not specify where the boat was headed. But the governor of Satun Province in Thailand, Dechrat Simsiri, said the passengers wanted to go to Malaysia. “They didn’t want to come to Thailand because we are in the middle of a heavy crackdown on human traffickers and they knew they would be arrested and sent back to Myanmar,” Mr. Simsiri said.
Migrants helped a friend who fainted after being rescued from the sea in Kuala
Langsa, Indonesia, on Friday. Credit Hotli Simanjuntak/European Pressphoto Agency
Several passengers also told reporters on Thursday that they had boarded the boat three months ago in the hope of reaching Malaysia. But they said the Malaysian authorities had turned away their boat on Wednesday.
Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim nation, has quietly admitted tens of thousands of Rohingya. But after more than 1,500 migrants came ashore in Malaysia and Indonesia in the past week, both countries declared their intention to turn away any more boats carrying migrants unless they were in jeopardy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How Myanmar and Its Neighbors Are Responding to the Rohingya Crisis
Myanmar and its neighbors see the people of the Rohingya ethnic group and the seaborne trafficking of migrants in the region very differently, complicating the refugees’ plight.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/05/13/world/asia/15rohingya-explainer.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a statement on Friday, Najib Razak, the prime minister of Malaysia, said his government was “taking the necessary actions to deal with this humanitarian crisis.”
Jeffrey Labovitz, head of Thailand operations for the International Organization for Migration, an intergovernmental organization that is helping the migrants, said that the Thai government had offered to bring the boat ashore and allow people to disembark. But he said that individuals on the ship who identified themselves as representatives of the passengers told the authorities that they preferred to try again to reach Malaysia.
Thapanee Ietsrichai, a Thai reporter who witnessed the boat’s departure from Thai waters, confirmed that a man who was acting as the leader of the passengers and gave his name as Selim said to Thai sailors that they did not want to come ashore in Thailand and wanted to travel to Malaysia.
But Ms. Thapanee added that women on board were weeping as the boat departed. “They did not appear to want to leave,” she wrote in an Instagram posting .. https://instagram.com/thapanee3miti/ . She said she and the Thai sailors “could not hold back their tears” as the ship moved farther out to sea.
The green and red fishing boat, packed with men, women and children squatting on the deck, flew a tattered black flag on a makeshift bamboo mast with the words, in English, “We are Myanmar Rohingya.” Passengers said there were 400 migrants aboard the boat.
Chris Lewa, coordinator of the Arakan Project, which monitors trafficking in the Andaman Sea and had been in contact with a passenger on the boat with a mobile phone, said the boat appeared to have taken on the Rohingya passengers around March 1. She said other vessels linked to the traffickers delivered water and food to the boat during the voyage.
Passengers said that 10 people had died during the journey and that their bodies had been thrown overboard. But Ms. Lewa said passengers have given differing accounts of how many people died during the journey. “It’s always difficult to get the true story,” she said. “They are so traumatized.”
Poypiti Amatatham contributed reporting from Lipe Island, Joe Cochrane from Paya Bateung, Indonesia, and Nick Cumming-Bruce from Geneva.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/16/world/asia/migrant-boat-myanmar-thailand.html
~~~
God of the Paradox
down a bit here .. http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=103037738
Radio Free Asia
Published on Apr 1, 2015
A recent Amnesty International report says the situation for Rohingyas in Myanmar is deteriorating.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVTpKP-KpH8
~~~
Boat With Hundreds of Migrants From Myanmar Heads Farther Out to Sea
By THOMAS FULLERMAY 15, 2015
Migrants from Bangladesh helped a friend who fainted after arrival Friday in Langsa, Indonesia.
Thousands from Myanmar and Bangladesh are on the move. Credit Binsar Bakkara/Associated Press
LIPE ISLAND, Thailand — A wooden fishing boat carrying hundreds of desperate migrants from Myanmar .. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/myanmar/index.html?inline=nyt-geo .. moved farther out to sea on Friday after the Thai authorities concluded that the passengers wanted to continue their journey, instead of disembarking in Thailand .. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/thailand/index.html?inline=nyt-geo , according to an aid group involved in negotiations over the vessel’s future.
But a Thai reporter who witnessed the boat’s departure said that some of those aboard did not appear to want to leave.
The vessel, which passengers said had been turned away from Malaysia, is part of a rickety flotilla from Myanmar and Bangladesh carrying thousands of migrants, many of them Rohingya Muslims, fleeing persecution or economic hardship, with no country willing to take them in.
Related:
Rohingya Migrants From Myanmar, Shunned by Malaysia, Are Spotted Adrift in Andaman Sea MAY 14, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/15/world/asia/burmese-rohingya-bangladeshi-migrants-andaman-sea.html
Rohingya Refugees From Myanmar Have Been Persecuted for Decades MAY 12, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/world/asia/myanmar-rohingya-refugees-rakhine-burma.html
Migrants at Sea, Up Close: Reporter’s Notebook MAY 15, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/times-insider/2015/05/15/migrants-at-sea-up-close-reporters-notebook/
Another boat carrying at least 660 migrants landed in Indonesia on Friday morning after being rescued by local fishermen, a United Nations official said. And an Indonesian military spokesman said that the Indonesian Navy had intercepted a third boat carrying hundreds of others in the Strait of Malacca on Friday morning and was preventing it from coming ashore.
Rohingya migrants swam to collect food supplies dropped by a Thai Army helicopter in the
Andaman Sea on Thursday. Credit Christophe Archambault/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
In an escalating regionwide crisis, an estimated 6,000 to 20,000 people fleeing ethnic persecution in Myanmar and poverty in Bangladesh are said to be on boats in the Andaman Sea and the Strait of Malacca. Some have been abandoned by their traffickers with little food or water.
In a statement on Friday, the United Nations’ human rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, rebuked Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia for turning back the vessels. “I am appalled at reports that Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia have been pushing boats full of vulnerable migrants back out to sea, which will inevitably lead to many avoidable deaths,” he said. “The focus should be on saving lives, not further endangering them.”
VIDEO 1:00 - Myanmar Migrants Spotted in Andaman Sea
A wooden fishing boat carrying several hundred migrants from Myanmar was seen adrift west of the Thai mainland on Thursday. By Thomas Fuller on Publish Date May 14, 2015. Photo by Thomas Fuller/The New York Times.
Mr. al-Hussein also emphasized Myanmar’s responsibility in the unfolding crisis, saying that until its government addressed “the institutional discrimination against the Rohingya population, including equal access to citizenship, this precarious migration will continue.”
The boat left Thailand’s waters Friday after the Thai Navy repaired its engine and provided food, water, batteries and enough fuel for 33 hours of travel, said Lt. Cmdr. Veerapong Nakprasit, the commander of a Thai naval base here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Graphic - Understanding Southeast Asia’s Migrant Crisis
About 25,000 migrants left Myanmar and Bangladesh on rickety smugglers’ boats in the first three months of 2015, according to a United Nations estimate.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/05/14/world/asia/Understanding-Southeast-Asias-Migrant-Crisis.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The boat is without qualified crew; the captain and five other crew members abandoned the vessel last week, according to passengers. But Commander Veerapong said the navy had trained the passengers “so they can reach their dream destination. We have verified that they can navigate on their own.”
He did not specify where the boat was headed. But the governor of Satun Province in Thailand, Dechrat Simsiri, said the passengers wanted to go to Malaysia. “They didn’t want to come to Thailand because we are in the middle of a heavy crackdown on human traffickers and they knew they would be arrested and sent back to Myanmar,” Mr. Simsiri said.
Migrants helped a friend who fainted after being rescued from the sea in Kuala
Langsa, Indonesia, on Friday. Credit Hotli Simanjuntak/European Pressphoto Agency
Several passengers also told reporters on Thursday that they had boarded the boat three months ago in the hope of reaching Malaysia. But they said the Malaysian authorities had turned away their boat on Wednesday.
Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim nation, has quietly admitted tens of thousands of Rohingya. But after more than 1,500 migrants came ashore in Malaysia and Indonesia in the past week, both countries declared their intention to turn away any more boats carrying migrants unless they were in jeopardy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How Myanmar and Its Neighbors Are Responding to the Rohingya Crisis
Myanmar and its neighbors see the people of the Rohingya ethnic group and the seaborne trafficking of migrants in the region very differently, complicating the refugees’ plight.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/05/13/world/asia/15rohingya-explainer.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a statement on Friday, Najib Razak, the prime minister of Malaysia, said his government was “taking the necessary actions to deal with this humanitarian crisis.”
Jeffrey Labovitz, head of Thailand operations for the International Organization for Migration, an intergovernmental organization that is helping the migrants, said that the Thai government had offered to bring the boat ashore and allow people to disembark. But he said that individuals on the ship who identified themselves as representatives of the passengers told the authorities that they preferred to try again to reach Malaysia.
Thapanee Ietsrichai, a Thai reporter who witnessed the boat’s departure from Thai waters, confirmed that a man who was acting as the leader of the passengers and gave his name as Selim said to Thai sailors that they did not want to come ashore in Thailand and wanted to travel to Malaysia.
But Ms. Thapanee added that women on board were weeping as the boat departed. “They did not appear to want to leave,” she wrote in an Instagram posting .. https://instagram.com/thapanee3miti/ . She said she and the Thai sailors “could not hold back their tears” as the ship moved farther out to sea.
The green and red fishing boat, packed with men, women and children squatting on the deck, flew a tattered black flag on a makeshift bamboo mast with the words, in English, “We are Myanmar Rohingya.” Passengers said there were 400 migrants aboard the boat.
Chris Lewa, coordinator of the Arakan Project, which monitors trafficking in the Andaman Sea and had been in contact with a passenger on the boat with a mobile phone, said the boat appeared to have taken on the Rohingya passengers around March 1. She said other vessels linked to the traffickers delivered water and food to the boat during the voyage.
Passengers said that 10 people had died during the journey and that their bodies had been thrown overboard. But Ms. Lewa said passengers have given differing accounts of how many people died during the journey. “It’s always difficult to get the true story,” she said. “They are so traumatized.”
Poypiti Amatatham contributed reporting from Lipe Island, Joe Cochrane from Paya Bateung, Indonesia, and Nick Cumming-Bruce from Geneva.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/16/world/asia/migrant-boat-myanmar-thailand.html
~~~
God of the Paradox
down a bit here .. http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=103037738
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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