A ray of hope for boatpeople as US expresses willingness to take in Rohingyas, Malaysia starts rescue operations

The United States yesterday said it was willing to take in Rohingya refugees as Malaysia ordered search and rescue operations for the “migrant boats” in the sea.

Going even further, some Malaysian restaurant owners wished to employ the boatpeople rescued or those drifting at sea.

Australia and Thailand, however, ruled out accepting the boatpeople.

The developments come as human trafficking or irregular migration via the sea has emerged as a serious problem in the region.

Thailand had discovered mass graves in its jungle camps and started a drive against the human traffickers in early May. Since then, boats crammed with an estimated 6,000-7,000 people have been adrift at sea.

Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia -- where some 3,000 Rohingyas and Bangladeshis were rescued or they had swum to the shores in the last two weeks -- have also been turning the boats away.

However, following huge criticism from the international community, Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to take in the migrants and provide them with temporary shelters.

US TO RESETTLE ROHINGYAS

The US is willing to take in Rohingya refugees as part of 

international efforts to cope with Southeast Asia's stranded boatpeople, the US State Department said on Wednesday, reports AP.

Spokeswoman Marie Harf said the US was prepared to take a leading role in any multi-country effort, organised by the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR to resettle the most vulnerable refugees.

Harf welcomed the decision of Malaysia and Indonesia “to uphold their responsibilities under international law and provide humanitarian assistance and shelter to 7,000 vulnerable migrants''.

The US would consider requests from the UNHCR and International Organisation for Migration (IOM) for funds to help receive and screen refugees as they come to shore.

Harf said since October 1, the US has resettled more than 1,000 Rohingyas. Last year, the US accepted nearly 70,000 refugees -- people with a well-founded fear of persecution -- from around the world.

“I think the Malaysians and the Indonesians have requested some help resettling people. We're taking a careful look at the proposal,'' Harf told reporters in Washington DC.

“It has to be a multi-country effort. We obviously can't take this all on ourselves. But we are prepared to play a leading role in this effort.''

Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was scheduled to visit Myanmar yesterday and urge it to cooperate with Bangladesh to help migrants adrift.

Harf said Blinken would ask Myanmar to improve conditions inside the country for the Rohingyas.

“The only sustainable solution to the problem is changing the conditions that let them put their lives at risk in the first place,'' Blinken, the second-ranking US diplomat, told reporters in Indonesia.

At least 120,000 minority Muslim Rohingyas have fled sectarian violence and apartheid-like conditions in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar in the last three years. Myanmar officials refer to the group as “Bangalees'' and insist they have immigrated illegally from Bangladesh, even though most have lived in the country for generations.

MALAYSIA ORDERS RESCUE

Ordering search and rescue for the boatpeople in the Andaman Sea, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak yesterday said they would also deliver humanitarian aid by land and sea.

Najib on Twitter had said it was "basic human compassion" to provide aid to the hungry and the sick. He said search and rescue by the country's naval and maritime authorities was needed to "prevent loss of life".

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Indian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (Presma), offered to hire the Rohingya and Bangladeshi “boat migrants” who have been temporarily allowed to land in Malaysia, reports Malaysian daily The Star quoting the association's President Noorul Hassan Saul Hameed.

If the proposal was not contrary to any government policy, the migrants were welcome to work at any of the restaurants affiliated to the association, he said.

“We would like to extend our help to the victims who are just like our brothers and sisters,” said Hameed. Currently, 603 Bangladeshi “boat migrants” were staying in Malaysian Immigration detention centre.

AUSTRALIA SAYS NO

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott yesterday ruled out helping to resettle the wave of migrants fleeing to Southeast Asia, saying it would worsen the problem and "encourage people to get on boats", reports AFP from Sydney.

Abbott, whose conservative government employs tough measures to stop boatpeople, said Australia "will do absolutely nothing that gives any encouragement to anyone to think that they can get on a boat, that they can work with people-smugglers to start a new life".

"Nope, nope, nope," the Australian leader said when reporters asked whether he would offer resettlement to the Rohingyas.

"If we do the slightest thing to encourage people to get on the boats, this problem will get worse, not better," he said.

Thailand's junta chief yesterday said those who felt his government should do more to help stranded boatpeople should "migrate" to sea themselves and swap places with them.

The comments from Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha came as Bangkok was criticised for not following Indonesia and Malaysia and agree to accept the stranded migrants.

"Anyone who supports this idea [of accepting the boatpeople], please contribute one baht a day or take them to your home when their case has been processed," the former army chief told lawmakers during a speech on the Thai budget at National Legislative Assembly in Bangkok.

"Or you migrate out to the sea and bring them to live here instead," he added.

Prayut defended Thailand's policy towards migrants, saying the country was already home to more than 900,000 refugees from decades of regional turmoil.

He claimed that Thai soldiers get a smaller food allowance than detained migrants.