Myanmar undertakes first naval operation to save stranded migrants

Myanmar authorities have launched the first naval operation to save an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 migrants stranded in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, media reported on Friday.

The Information Ministry confirmed in a press release that the navy rescued 208 Bangladeshis off the western Burmese coast of Rakhine on Thursday night and Friday morning, as reported by the Democratic Voice of Burma news agency.

The migrants’ boat was of Thai origin and set sail from Bangladesh, accompanied by a smaller supply boat; upon discovery, it was escorted to land, and its occupants were provided with shelter and humanitarian aid.

The rescue operation coincided with Vice President Nyan Tun’s statement at a conference that Myanmar would comply with its international obligations regarding illegal migrants.

The same day, Myanmar’s President Thein Sein received United States Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken, who visited Naypyidaw to seek the country’s plan for tackling the migration crisis in Southeast Asia.

A significant number of the migrants are the Rohingyas, an ethnic Muslim minority considered foreigners by both Myanmar and Bangladesh, who have been trying to escape mistreatment and discrimination since sectarian violence began in 2012.

On Wednesday, Indonesia and Malaysia announced they would grant temporary asylum to stranded migrants, as long as the international community was committed to relocating them in third countries or repatriate them within a year.

According to the United Nations, 88,000 illegal immigrants, including 25,000 in the first quarter of 2015, have tried to migrate by boat since 2014, while some 3,000 Bangladeshis and Rohingyas have landed in Indonesia and Malaysia since May 10.

The Thai government has called for a conference in Bangkok on May 29 to address the issue.