Indonesia, Malaysia to take in migrants
Temporary refuge announced after fishermen save starving refugees stranded at sea
PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA— In a major breakthrough that could ease Southeast Asia’s migrant crisis, Indonesia and Malaysia have offered to temporarily take in thousands of people stranded at sea but appealed for international help, saying the crisis is a global, not a regional, problem.
The reversal in their positions on Wednesday, after weeks of saying the migrants were not welcome, came as more than 430 weakened people were rescued — not by navies patrolling the waters but by a flotilla of Indonesian fishermen who brought them ashore in the province of Aceh.
One of the fishermen who led the rescue effort said that when he spotted the migrants’ green wooden trawler and saw the people onboard screaming for help, he began to weep.
“As we came close, I was shocked. I saw them crammed onto the boat,” said 40-year-old Razali Puteh. “It left me speechless and I broke down in tears as I watched them screaming, waving their hands and clothes.”
People from the boat began jumping into the water trying to reach him, but he told them to stay put until he returned with other boats.
“I could not let them die . . . they are also human beings, just like me,” Puteh said. “I am grateful to have saved hundreds of lives.”
In the past three weeks, more than 3,000 people — Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Burma and Bangladeshis trying to escape poverty — have landed in overcrowded boats on Southeast Asian shores better known for their white-sand beaches.
Aid groups estimate there are thousands more are stranded at sea after a crackdown on human traffickers that prompted captains and smugglers to abandon their boats.
The mounting crisis prompted Malaysia to call an emergency meeting with the foreign ministers of Indonesia and Thailand on Wednesday. Malaysia is the current chair of the 10nation group known as ASEAN.
“This is not an ASEAN problem,” Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said later. “This is a problem for the international community.”
Part of the crisis stemmed from the stance of ASEAN nations, which until now was to push boats away and not allow migrants to reach their shores, fearing that allowing a few to come in would lead to an unstoppable flow.
On Wednesday, Malaysia and Indonesia “agreed to offer temporary shelter provided that the settlement and repatriation process will be done in one year by the international community,” according to a joint statement.
Speaking to reporters in Putrajaya, Anifah said the two countries would not wait for international support but would start giving migrants shelter “immediately.”
Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla said his government was ready to shelter Rohingya for one year, while the Bangladeshis would be sent back home. “A year is maximum,” he said. “But there should be international co-operation.”
Thailand has said it cannot afford to take more migrants because it is already overburdened by tens of thousands of refugees from Burma. Its Foreign Ministry announced it has agreed to provide humanitarian assistance and will not “push back migrants stranded in Thai territorial waters.” It remained unclear, however, how it would deal with such people, or where the Rohingya could permanently settle.