Staff Reporter :The United Nations has urged the governments of Southeast Asian countries to keep their borders and ports open to thousands stranded on smugglers’ boats between the Andaman Sea and the Straits of Malacca.In a statement issued on Friday, the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, said that he was “alarmed by reports that some countries may be refusing entry to boats carrying refugees and migrants”.He urged governments in the region to uphold the obligation of rescue at sea and also maintain the prohibition on ‘refoulement’. Refoulement is the forcible return of individuals to their country of origin where they could face persecution.The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday also urged the governments in the region to take swift action to protect lives of migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar with ‘human consequences’. “I am appalled at reports that Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia have been pushing boats full of vulnerable migrants back out to sea, which will inevitably lead to many avoidable deaths,” he said.”The focus should be on saving lives, not endangering them.”On Friday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein also urged the governments of the region to take swift action to protect lives of migrants, saying some 6,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants are believed to be still stranded at sea in precarious conditions in South East Asia, and three countries actively implementing a policy of pushing boats back to sea.” Zeid urged Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia not to worsen the human-trafficking crisis involving Bangladeshis and ethic Rohingya from Myanmar.He praised Indonesia for letting 582 migrants land last Sunday and Malaysia for allowing 1,018 to disembark the following day but said other stricken boats had been turned away since.His appeal came as more than 750 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants were rescued off Indonesia on Friday.Zeid also expressed alarm that some countries were reportedly threatening to criminalise illegal migrants and asylum seekers.He said their rights must be upheld “regardless of their legal status, how they arrive at borders, or where they come from.”
