Abandon migrant ‘push back’ policy: UN to SE Asian nations

The UN on Friday called the “push back” migrant ships policy of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia as “incomprehensible and inhumane” and appealed to them to step up search and rescue operations, amid reports that more than 6,000 people are still stranded in the perilous sea.

Urging the three Southeast Asian nations not to worsen the migrant crisis involving boatloads of Myanmar’s persecuted ethnic Rohingya Muslim and Bangladeshi migrants, the UN rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein said he was “appalled” by the policy of pushing back starving migrants stranded on smugglers boats between the Andaman Sea and Strait of Malacca. 

“Governments in South East Asia need to respond to this crisis from the premise that migrants, regardless of their legal status, how they arrive at borders, or where they come from, are people with rights that must be upheld,” said Zeid.

“The focus should be on saving lives, not endangering them,” Zeid said, even as more than 750 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants were rescued off Indonesia today. Calling the push back policy “incomprehensible and inhumane action”, Zeid appealed to the regional governments to accept the migrants stranded at the sea. He also emphasised that the international human rights and refugee law, including the principle of <g data-gr-id="23">non-refoulement</g> should be upheld and asylum seekers at international borders should be protected.

A deadly refugee crisis has been unfolding in the Andaman Sea and the Strait of Malacca where thousands of persecuted Rohingya Muslims and impoverished Bangladeshis are fleeing in dinghy boats hoping to reach Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.