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A monumental humanitarian crisis which calls for immediate action

Refugees are on the move in Europe, Africa and South East Asia.  Perhaps they aren't genuine refugees but people seeking a better life.   Whatever.....at the moment there are thousands on the move, many dying in the process and others, literally, drifting on the high seas.       The question is simple, even if the answer is not.   Are we going to stand by and see these people perish?



A boat with Rohingya migrants on board that was found drifting on the sea border between Thailand and Malaysia on Thursday

"A long-simmering refugee crisis in South East Asia has quickly garnered international attention as thousands of 'stateless peoples'—mostly Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and poverty-stricken Bangladeshis abandoned at sea—have been refused to come ashore in Malaysia, which says it can no longer afford to "be nice" to those seeking safe harbor with nowhere left to go.

On Thursday, government officials turned away two boats thought to be carrying as many as 800 refugees. Thousands of others are believed to be on similar vessels in waters off the coast of Thailand, in the Andaman Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Strait of Malacca which separates mainland Malaysia from Indonesia.

As the Associated Press reports:

Indonesia and Thailand also appeared unwilling to provide refuge to men, women and children, despite appeals by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, international aid agencies and rights activists, who warned lives were at risk.

Fearing arrests, captains tied to trafficking networks have in recent days abandoned ships in the busy Malacca Strait and surrounding waters, leaving behind their human cargo, in many cases with little food or water, according to survivors.

Around 1,600 have been rescued, but an estimated 6,000 remain stranded at sea.

Malaysian Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi said about 500 people on board a boat found Wednesday off the coast of northern Penang state — three days after more than a thousand refugees landed on nearby Langkawi island — were given provisions and then sent on their way.

"What do you expect us to do?" he said. "We have been very nice to the people who broke into our border. We have treated them humanely but they cannot be flooding our shores like this."

"We have to send the right message that they are not welcome here," he said."

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