Bangkok (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Southeast Asian countries were urged on Tuesday to treat migrants landing on their shores humanely and avoid a repeat of this year's disaster in which hundreds of refugees were either lost at sea or died in jungle camps.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) called for "full cooperation" from governments tackling a regional migrant crisis similar to Europe’s struggle to cope with refugees fleeing war in Syria and Iraq.
In recent weeks, thousands of Rohingya Muslims and undocumented migrant workers – the newest boat people – have left Myanmar and Bangladesh on boats, braving the open sea to reach the coasts of Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Thailand’s crackdown earlier this year on human trafficking – after the discovery of a mass grave with dozens of bodies of Rohingya near its border with Malaysia – compounded the crisis.
Things got worse when the clampdown triggered a regional crisis, which both Thailand and Malaysia eventually rejected after a meeting of their respective foreign ministers.
In the middle of the migrant crisis, Thailand’s military government has been trying to deal with the situation by involving its neighbours and international organisations to find a common solution.
In fact, October and November mark the start of the four-month "sailing season", the busiest time for smuggling and trafficking ships plying the Bay of Bengal.
"We are still calling for safe disembarkation and humanitarian treatment," said Joe Lowry, IOM's spokesman in Asia-Pacific.
Thailand will host shortly a regional summit to take stock of the situation and plan future actions.
Since late September, when monsoon conditions began to subside, several boats have smuggled about a thousand people across the Bay of Bengal, according to the UN refugee agency and the migration-tracking group Arakan Project.
At the same time, migration patterns have changed, IOM’s Lowry said. "The obvious thing is people go directly to Malaysia which cuts out potential for profit for smugglers," he said.