Asean inaction a death sentence for thousands of boat people
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Governments in Southeast Asia must act immediately to stop this unfolding humanitarian crisis.
It is crucial that countries in the region launch coordinated search-and-rescue operations to save those at sea – anything less could be a death sentence for thousands of people.
It’s harrowing to think that hundreds of people are right now drifting in a boat perilously close to dying, without food or water, and without even knowing where they are.
The Malaysian authorities have a duty to protect and not punish the hundreds of people who reached the country’s shores today. They must be given the medical care they desperately need, and in no circumstances be sent back to sea or transferred to a place where their rights or lives are put at risk.
Comments by the authorities that they will turn back those arriving on boats are an affront to human dignity. What’s more, if authorities follow through with these threats, they will be violating Malaysia’s international legal obligations.
The thousands of lives at risk should be the immediate priority, but the root causes of this crisis must also be addressed. The fact that thousands of Rohingya prefer a dangerous boat journey they might not survive to staying in Myanmar speaks volumes about the conditions they face there.
Kate Schuetze
Amnesty International
Asia-Pacific researcher
