Boat people are not from Myanmar, says foreign minister
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Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin insisted that after careful investigations, the boat people found stranded off the coast of Myanmar are not actually from Myanmar, despite their claims.
“This is a case of international human trafficking," he said yesterday at the briefing for international ambassadors and representatives of United Nations agencies.
When asked, they replied that they are from Myanmar and that they ran away because of racial prejudice. When proper investigations were done, it was revealed that they are not from Myanmar. They were migrant workers searching for better-paying jobs. They were lured by the prospect of cheap labor in developed countries. They only claim to be from Myanmar,” said Wunna Maung Lwin.
In response to the minister’s statements, Bangladesh’s ambassador to Myanmar Mohammad Sufiur Rahman replied: “It is not possible to judge the whole situation from just two boats rescued by Myanmar’s navy, which only contained 200 and 700 refugees, respectively. Only by investigating the refugees currently in Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries will we know their country of origin. Only then we will be able to solve this crisis in the Southeast Asian seas by identifying the root of the problem.”
A recently rescued boat holding 734 refugees is believed to have been abandoned by human traffickers.
Zaw Aye Maung, the Yangon Region Minister for Rakhine Affairs, said: “Even though we do not know where exactly the refugees are from, we are nevertheless aiding them, but we need to know where they are from soon. If they can speak Burmese and can tell us exactly where they live and are in accordance with law, the Rakhine people can accept them as Myanmar’s citizens.”
He added that the border between Rakhine state and Bangladesh stretches over 160 kilometres. Before Bangladesh became a country in 1971, it was called East Pakistan. Back then, the population was 66 million, and it has now grown to over 160 million. Bangladesh is also a country that regularly faces natural disasters as well as high birth and unemployment rates.
“Since long ago, people have been migrating to countries like Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. I have proof. The Rakhines are not that deep in poverty. The Rakhines are not running away on boats. Even now, because of the support from the central and regional government, we are keeping them happy in the camps. We ask that Myanmar alone not bear the burden of this crisis, but instead that they receive help from the other Asean countries in order to solve this problem,” he said.
