Thailand to host talks on regional migrant crisis

Representatives from 17 nations will gather in Thailand Friday for talks on Southeast Asia's migrant crisis which has seen thousands of desperate people flee on boats across the Bay of Bengal aiming for Malaysia and Indonesia.

But observers say it is unclear how much the one-day meeting, which is not being attended at a minister level, can achieve on an issue that has dogged the region for years but gone largely ignored by authorities.

Earlier this month Bangkok began a belated crackdown on the smuggling trade in the country's deep south, throwing the multi-million dollar industry into disarray as gangmasters abandoned their victims on land and at sea.

More than 3,500 starving migrants have since arrived on Thai, Malaysian and Indonesian soil while the UN estimates there are 2,500 more still feared trapped at sea as the monsoon season approaches.

The vast majority of migrants are Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Buddhist majority Myanmar or Bangladeshis trying to escape grinding poverty.

The meeting -- which Thailand says must tackle the "root causes" of the current exodus -- is an attempt to forge some kind of united front against the trade in a region where countries shy away from direct diplomatic confrontation -- something rights groups and observers say has allowed people smuggling to thrive unchecked.

"ASEAN countries have hidden behind the notion of 'non-interference' to turn a blind eye to the persecution of Rohingya in Myanmar, to the growth of criminal smuggling and human trafficking networks, and the increasing demand for undocumented laborers," Sam Zarifi, Asia director for the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said in a statement before the summit in a Bangkok hotel began.

- 'Problems won't be solved in one meeting' -

Earlier this week UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said the meeting should get "to grips with the need for far stronger arrangements for the protection of both migrants and asylum seekers".

Countries attending include those directly affected the current crisis such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia.

Myanmar and Bangladesh are also sending delegates after both nations came under increasing pressure to address the root causes for why so many of their citizens flee their shores.

Myanmar's 1.3 million Rohingyas are one of the world's most persecuted minorities.

They face restrictions on movement, jobs and family size while the government refuses to recognise them as citizens, instead calling them illegal "Bengalis" from Bangladesh.

But the former junta-led nation has balked at any criticism of its treatment of the community and has previously threatened to pull out of the talks altogether if the word Rohingya is used.

Other countries attending have a less obvious direct link to the Southeast Asian migrant crisis such as Afghanistan, India, Iran and Papua New Guinea.

All those attending are below minister level, apart from Thailand's junta-appointed Foreign Minister Tanasak Patimapragorn.

The United States, Switzerland, the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration are also sending observers.

Jeff Labovitz, head of the IOM's Thailand office, told AFP he hoped those nations attending would come up with "practical suggestions on how to work together and how to stop trafficking or smuggling issues."

But he added: "Problems won't be solved in one meeting."
Source: AFP