ASIA-MIGRANTS/FILE File footage chronicles the migrant crisis in Asia

Record ID: 151702

  • Title: ASIA-MIGRANTS/FILE File footage chronicles the migrant crisis in Asia
  • Date: 18th June 2015
  • Summary: SADAO, THAILAND (FILE - MAY 1, 2015) (REUTERS) SOLDIERS, POLICE AND MEDICS GATHERING AT SUSPECTED THAI TRAFFICKING CAMP MEDICAL VOLUNTEERS CARRYING BODIES, WRAPPED IN CLOTH, FROM GRAVES MAN RESCUED FROM ABANDONED CAMP LYING IN BACK OF AMBULANCE CAMP SITE Thai police on May 1 found at least 30 graves believed to belong to migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh at what authori
  • Embargoed: 3rd July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAKTNF5LA8C0WOLF2D6T3CITSP
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: As the international community prepares to observe World Refugee Day on Saturday (June 20), Southeast Asia continues to grapple with a humanitarian crisis involving thousands of people trafficked from Myanmar and Bangladesh into Malaysia and Indonesia through Thailand.
    More than 4,000 migrants have landed in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar since the Thai government launched a crackdown on people-smuggling gangs.
    The crackdown appeared to disrupt smuggling routes and have a knock-on effect, leading to many migrants being stuck out at sea on boats the United Nations has described as "floating coffins".
    Thousands of migrants, many of which are Rohingya Muslims, endure perilous journeys by sea and land to escape religious and ethnic persecution and in search of work abroad.
    They are often trafficked through Thailand and taken into the country's jungles, where traffickers demand ransoms to release them or smuggle them across the border to predominantly Muslim Malaysia.
    A boat captain and two crew members arrested on suspicion of human trafficking earlier this month told Indonesian police that Australian authorities had paid each of them A$5,000 ($3,860) to turn back their vessel with 65 migrants on board.
    Calls have since been growing from within Australia and the international community for an inquiry into such reports. Jakarta and the United Nations have expressed serious concern.
    The allegations appear to be further straining ties between uneasy neighbors Australia and Indonesia, who were only just beginning to improve relations after Indonesia's execution of two Australians on drugs charges earlier this year.
    Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Armanatha Nasir said on June 13 that Australia would have stooped to a "new low" if the reports were true.
    The United Nations (UN) and human rights groups have criticized Australia over its tough asylum-seeker policy, which Abbott defends as necessary to stop deaths at sea.
    The UN estimates that in the first quarter of 2015, 25,000 people left for other countries in southeast Asia, more than double than in 2014 and 2013. Of these 40-60 percent were Rohingyas and the rest Bangladeshis.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register