Navy pushes migrants out to sea; others rescued (UPDATED)

15 พฤษภาคม 2558

Thailand turned away a boat carrying at least 300 Rohingya migrants found adrift in Thai waters Thursday, giving them supplies but sending them on their way to third countries. One lucky group of 700 was rescued in Indonesia after their boat sank.

Thailand turned away a boat carrying at least 300 Rohingya migrants found adrift in Thai waters Thursday, giving them supplies but sending them on their way to third countries. One lucky group of 700 was rescued in Indonesia after their boat sank.

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Afternoon update

A group of rescued migrants mostly Rohingya from Myanmar and Bangladesh gathered on arrival at the new confinement area in the fishing town of Kuala Langsa in Aceh province on May 15, 2015. More than 700 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants arrived in Indonesia Friday after they were rescued by fishing boats when their boat sank off the coast of Aceh province, police said. AFP PHOTO / JANUAR

700 migrants rescued off Indonesia after boat sinks

Lhokseumawe, Indonesia, May 15, 2015, AFP – Another 700 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants were rescued off Indonesia on Friday, police said.

Indonesian police said passengers aboard the latest vessel seeking safety in the region recounted how their boat sank off the country's coast after earlier being driven away by Malaysia.

Activists estimate up to 8,000 migrants are at sea in Southeast Asia.

But the decision by Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand to turn away stricken boats filled with starving Bangladeshis and ethnic Rohingya from Myanmar has been met with outrage, including from the US and UN.

"According to initial information we got from them they were pushed away by the Malaysian navy to the border of Indonesian waters," said Sunarya, police chief in the city of Langsa in Aceh province, where the migrants arrived.

The boat was sinking but Indonesian fishermen ferried them to shore, he said. Nearly 1,300 migrants are already sheltering in Aceh.

Friday morning story

Rohingya migrants sit on a boat drifting in Thai waters off the southern island of Koh Li Peh in the Andaman sea on May 14, 2015. A boat crammed with scores of Rohingya migrants -- including many young children – was found drifting in Thai waters on May 14, with passengers saying several people had died over the last few days. AFP PHOTO / Christophe ARCHAMBAULT

Navy pushes migrants out to sea

Govt defers Rohingya camp move till summit

Post Reporters

Thailand turned away a boat carrying at least 300 Rohingya migrants found adrift in Thai waters Thursday, pushing it back out to sea.

The decision to push away the boat about 17km off the southern island of Li Peh in the Andaman Sea in Satun's Muang district is contrary to the government's proposal for temporary camps to shelter Rohingya migrants in Thailand.

However, the Royal Thai Navy said Thursday they provided them with relief supplies before turning them away. Malaysia and Indonesia over the past few days have also pushed thousands of migrants back to sea.

Rohingya migrants swim to collect food supplies dropped by a Thai army helicopter after they jumped from a boat (R) drifting in Thai waters off the southern island of Koh Li Peh in the Andaman sea on May 14, 2015. AFP PHOTO / Christophe ARCHAMBAULT

Panitan Wattanayagorn, adviser to Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon who is responsible for national security, said the government will wait for the outcome of the international conference on regional sea migrant problems on May 29 in Bangkok before it decides whether to set up temporary shelters for trafficked Rohingya migrants.

Conference participants will include senior officials from 15 affected countries together with representatives from international organisations.

Countries directly affected by the problem and who are invited to the meeting include Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Vietnam.

Lt Cdr Weerapong Nakpradit, chief of the 491 air and coastal unit under the 3rd Navy Region, said, having detected the boat, six trawlers were told to give the weak-looking migrants food and medicine before letting them continue their journey.

Rohingya migrants pass food supplies dropped by a Thai army helicopter to others aboard a boat drifting in Thai waters. AFP PHOTO / Christophe ARCHAMBAULT

The migrants said the boat had engine problems and drifted into Thai waters and that they wanted to go to Malaysia and Indonesia, Lt Cdr Weerapong said.

Deputy government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had already been briefed about the migrants on the boat and had ordered the 3rd Navy Region to conduct an inspection.

Gen Prayut made it clear that if the migrants wanted to make landfall in Thailand, the country is willing to provide them with humanitarian assistance, although the migrants must comply with legal proceedings relating to migrants, he said.

But after navy officials spoke with migrants on the boat, the migrants said they did not intend to enter Thailand, but wanted to go to third countries, Maj Gen Sansern said.

The migrants also asked the authorities to repair the boat engines and requested drinking water and food, Maj Gen Sansern said.

Passengers said several people had died over the past few days during their journey. "About 10 people died during the journey. We threw their bodies into the water," one migrant shouted in Rohingya to a boat carrying reporters.

"There are 300 of us ... we have been at sea for two months."

A group of scarf-wearing women huddled on the deck cried as reporters approached. They said many of the passengers were young children, some of them toddlers.

The words "We are Myanmar Rohingya" were daubed in English on a black flag tethered to the boat, while a large tarpaulin had been erected to protect the stricken and weak migrants from the sun.

Mr Panitan said that Thailand "cannot go it alone" in setting up holding centres for Rohingya migrants as it needs to hold talks with other countries which are the origin of the migrants and the destinations for them.

Regarding measures to deal with sea migrants on boats, Mr Panitan said that in the case of large modified vessels carrying hundreds of migrants usually suspected of being operated by human trafficking gangs, the authorities will not allow them to make landfall.

This measure is in line with international practices in several countries such as Australia and European countries, Mr Panitan said.

However, in cases of small vessels carrying 10-15 migrants, officials at the scene have the discretion to decide whether to help the migrants as they see fit, Mr Panitan said.