The decision of Malaysia and Indonesia to allow thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshi boat people to land might put a temporary end to one of the worst humanitarian crises the region has faced in recent times but the problem is far from over.
Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia emphasise that the decision is a stop-gap measure, as these migrants must be relocated to third countries within a year and a permanent solution to the problem of Rohingyas in Myanmar needs to be found.
“We ... agreed to offer them temporary shelter provided that the resettlement and repatriation process will be done in one year by the international community,” the foreign ministers of the three countries said in a statement after a meeting in Kuala Lumpur that Myanmar did not attend.
The ministers appeared to have bowed to the international outrage over their earlier decision to prevent the migrants aboard rickety boats from entering their waters or coming ashore.
On Tuesday, the UN high commissioners for human rights and refugees, the UN special representative for migration and the International Organisation for Migration, demanded that the three countries give priority to saving lives and respecting human dignity.
Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia have turned the tables on their critics, urging them to do their share in helping the boat people.
The three countries called on the international community to provide financial assistance, especially in building temporary housing for the migrants, as well as ensuring that these migrants will be repatriated or resettled in a third country within a year.
They also wanted the problem to be dealt with at source.
“The root causes and other contributory factors to the recent influx of irregular migrants should be immediately identified and addressed by the parties concerned,” the ministers said.
Malaysia Home Minister Zahid Hamidi said that the Rohingya and Bangladeshi boat people were “trafficked voluntarily” because they made payments to smugglers to get them out of their country.
While Bangladeshi boat people can be considered economic migrants because they left their country to escape poverty and seek better lives, the same cannot be said for the tens of thousands of Rohingya boat people who are persecuted in their homeland in Myanmar, Rohingya activists say.
The Arakan Rohingya National Organisation says the Rohingya boat people are fleeing large-scale persecution and mass atrocities in Myanmar.
“We reiterate that the root cause of these human tragedies should be addressed,” it says.
“The Burmese/Myanmar government has to bear all responsibility for the untold sufferings of the Rohingya people for not allowing them to have a peaceful living in their own homeland.”
Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani, president of the Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation in Malaysia, wants the 10-country Association of South-East Asian Nations - of which Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia are members - to address the Rohingya problem.
Zafar said the influx of thousands of Rohingya boat people in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia is proof that Rohingyas are facing systematic prosecution in Myanmar.
