US prepares to deploy aircraft in search for stranded Rohingyas

BANGKOK — Attention turned yesterday to the seas off South-east Asia’s west coast as naval vessels from Myanmar and Malaysia searched for stranded boat people and the United States military prepared air patrols to step up its involvement.

In the first official rescue operation since migrants started washing up onto South-east Asian shores earlier this month, four Malaysian navy ships searched the country’s territorial waters for the boats. Navy chief Abdul Aziz Jaafar said three helicopters and three other ships were on standby.

Myanmar’s navy found two fishing trawlers filled with 208 men during a patrol on Thursday night off the coast of Myanmar’s Rakhine State, the main point of departure for Rohingya minority Muslims fleeing the Buddhist country.

Major Zaw Htay, director of Myanmar’s presidential office, yesterday said the men were identified as Bangladeshi and would be sent back to the neighbouring country. “The Myanmar navy continues with search-and-rescue activities in Myanmar waters,’’ he said.

“If they find any boats with migrants, they will provide humanitarian assistance, conduct verification and return them to where they came from.”

Myanmar has overcome initial reluctance and agreed to join a regional meeting in Thailand next Friday to address the crisis.

The Rohingya are fleeing persecution and economic marginalisation in Myanmar, where the government regards them as illegal migrants from Bangladesh — and refers to them as Bengalis, not Rohingya — even though many have lived in the country for generations. Neither Myanmar nor Bangladesh recognises them as citizens.

The Myanmar government has said some refugees may claim to be from Myanmar even though they are from Bangladesh, in the hope of receiving assistance from the United Nations.

About 3,600 refugees and migrants have landed in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, according to the International Organization for Migration. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimated that more than 3,000 others may still be at sea, after a regional crackdown on human traffickers at the beginning of the month prompted captains and smugglers to abandon their boats.

South-east Asian countries initially responded to the crisis by refusing to take in the migrants. But after pushing back several vessels earlier in the month, Malaysia and Indonesia said on Thursday they would provide temporary shelter to the desperate men, women and children if the international community helps resettle them within a year.

Indonesia said it would not actively search for the migrants, but would rescue those stranded or drifting in the country’s waters close to its shores, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir. He said the country would not push them back out to sea.

Thailand has indicated that it would not take in the migrants.

The US military said it was preparing to send maritime aviation patrols throughout the region, Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jeffrey Pool told AP on Thursday.

US Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the root causes of the exodus of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims needed to be addressed as a way to solve the humanitarian crisis facing South-east Asia.

Mr Blinken, who held talks with Myanmar’s leaders in Yangon, said: “(The Rohingyas) should have a path to citizenship and a durable future in this country if they meet the requirements. Because the uncertainty that comes from not even having any status is one of the things that may drive people to leave.” AGENCIES