The boat people

The Rohingyas of Myanmar have become the most unwanted population in the world. Nobody seems to want to help them. With an estimated 8,000 Rohingya Muslims reportedly stranded in the sea at the moment, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Australia have all refused to let them enter their countries. The UN is busy issuing statements, and the EU has called on Myanmar to end persecution of the fleeing community. But very few international aid agencies are calling for aid. Stranded in sea, their status as human beings appears to be have been suspended. A ship carrying Rohingya asylum seekers was towed out to sea by the Thai navy before being held up by Malaysian vessels. The UNHCR has called on these countries not to push back thousands of refugees and to actively go out to rescue them instead. The gruesome situation came to light when a boat carrying 800 Rohingyas came ashore in Indonesia. The refugees who made it to shore report being in the sea for months as governments around the region refused them entry.
The apathy of the international community over the plight of the Rohingyas fleeing persecution in Buddhist Myanmar is startling. The UNHCR claims at least 125,000 Rohingyas have fled Myanmar in the last three years. Myanmar refuses to officially recognise the Rohingya Muslims as part of its population, preferring to call them ‘Bengalis’. Myanmar had originally refused to attend a regional summit being held on May 29 in Thailand to discuss the Rohingya crisis if the word Rohingya were used. The country has since changed its mind and is expected to attend. US President Barack Obama sent a note to Congress saying that the US would not curtail its engagement with Myanmar as it introduces democratic reforms. But what kind of human rights abuses are going to be allowed under the guise of said democratic transition? Many have questioned Burma’s opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi’s silence over this blatant abuse of human rights. Moreover, what is to be said about the fact that all countries in the region have refused to help the thousands stranded at sea? With no official way of confirming the death toll, hundreds may have already drowned, starved or been killed at sea. A human rights disaster is in progress in the Andaman Sea. And no one is willing to help.