ATM Haidar Khan :
Does human life matter? If it does, to whom it is matter? It is obvious that human should come forward to protect the life of other when it is in danger, this is why organization such as Red Cross, UN exists. Countless illegal migrants are floating on Andaman Sea between Thailand and Malaysia, they are mostly Rohingya Migrants from Myanmar and a large number of migrants are from Bangladesh. Thousands of migrants are at the risk of cruel death in Andaman Sea and require immediate assistance.
The circumstances of Bangladeshi migrants are not the same to the Rohingya migrants; political verdict has brought Rohingyas to the Andaman Sea while Bangladeshi migrants are driven there for economic reason. Illegal migration is not new phenomenon in low-income 3rd world countries such as Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, India and Pakistan.
As large number of populations in these countries are below standard education and poverty line; these people consider that migration will open a magical door by which they will lead their family to an established economic life, though they have intense fear of hard life, they however accept it for their greater economic development believing that no prosperity is possible without hard work.
There are some evil manpower brokers who take advantage by motivating these people offering a dream of affluent life.
Over the decades these agents are illegally sending people abroad by sea or land where most of these innocent migrants are sold as slave and forced to work viciously.
It is reported that in Thailand a good number of migrants who have been sold as slaves are engaged in the fishing industry where they are forced to work 20-22 hours a day. Those who refuse to work hard are either shoot dead or thrown into sea, some commit suicide to get rid of from a life of misery. Yet the most worst of all is that to be slave these people had to pay a heavy price, while migrating with dream they had to give a big amount of money to the agent, majority of them had to sell the last piece of land and may be, left their family under the shadow of tree.
Tragedy doesn’t end here, some migrants are taken hostage in the Thai forest and criminals call their back home demanding a high amount of money, inability of providing money by their family usually results in brutal execution of hostage.
News on fate of illegal migrant are regularly broadcasted in Bangladesh and people are not unknown about these incidents but still people are migrating in the same way where people pay the heaviest price of their life, because they do not have choice, they think it is batter to go for a try rather than dyeing in want of food, on the other side, Rohingya Migrants doesn’t have any political identity, they have nowhere to live, so they are forced to take this way believing that other side of the sea may give them political shelter.
A report published by the New York Times suggests that 6,000 to 20,000 migrants are at sea, their ultimate fate is unknown, unless immediate help arrive they all have to die in the Andaman sea which now become a death valley with no food, water, medicine and no arrangement of sanitation.
Regrettably, no measures are being taken by world’s leaders. Nicholas Kristof, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes blamed that “The Obama administration, which has regarded Myanmar as one of its diplomatic successes, is largely unhelpful as this calamity unfolds”.
Neither Geneva or EU is coming forward to save these thousands of lives.
United Nations along with superpower countries should step forward to launch immediate rescue mission, these floating people should not be considered are illegal migrant, rather they should be considered as human. If human life does not mater to UN, to whom does it matter?
(ATM Haidar Khan is a researcher, currently working on South Asian politics and political economy)
