On Friday, Myanmar rescued over 200 people from two migrant boats from waters near its boarder with Bangladesh. This is the country's first rescue. During this migrant crisis, Myanmar has been criticized for not doing enough to aid the migrants stranded at sea. Most of the migrants are Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar while others are economic migrants from Bangladesh. Over 3,000 migrants have landed in Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia who have been offering aid. According to Myanmar's Facebook page, those rescued were "Bengalis" or illegal Bangladeshi migrants and that the boats were in Bangladeshi waters off of Myanmar waiting for more migrants to arrive via smaller boats. The Myanmar government is offering humanitarian assistance to those who suffered at sea but will only allow Myanmar citizens to stay. The government says none of those rescued are Myanmar citizens. The rescue mission came after a meeting with Malaysian and Indonesian foreign ministers and US Deputy Secretary of State.
-Cori Elsesser
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32840727
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment