Malaysia and Indonesia on Wednesday agreed to offer temporary shelter to 7,000 migrants stranded in the Andaman Sea, mostly the stateless Rohingyas Muslims fleeing Myanmar, in a breakthrough in the humanitarian crisis confronting Southeast Asia.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said the two countries ‘agreed to offer them temporary shelter provided that the resettlement and repatriation process will be done in one year by the international community’.
"In the meantime, Malaysia and Indonesia invite other countries in the region to join in this endeavor" he said. Earlier Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand held talks in Kuala Lumpur on the issue of irregular movement of people, in particular human trafficking.
The meeting involved Malaysia's Foreign Minister Anifah, his Thai and Indonesian counterparts General Tanasak Patimapragorn and Retno Marsudi. After the meeting, Indonesia and Malaysia -- both Muslim majority nations -- said they would scrap a policy of turning away migrants that triggered mounting international condemnation.
Malaysia said it would immediately stop the towing away of vessels ferrying migrants trying to enter its waters. Anifah said this was in line with the decision to offer migrants temporary shelter in the country. "We have agreed to offer them temporary shelter, the towing away will stop immediately," he told a news conference after chairing the three-nation meeting.
The minister said that the three countries had called upon the international community to urgently share the burden of providing the necessary support to them in addressing the influx of irregular migrants.
He said the support included financial assistance to enable them to provide temporary shelter and humanitarian assistance. "The international community will also take responsibility for the repatriation of the migrants to their countries of origin or resettlement to third countries within a year," he said.
A foreign ministry statement said Malaysia remained committed to working closely with affected countries and members of the international community in resolving the issue in the region.
"Malaysia will continue to seek a solution on the issue through, inter alia, concerted and coordinated efforts among the countries of origin, transit and destination," it said. In recent weeks, hundreds of migrants crammed onto ships have been arriving in the waters of both countries. They're believed to be economic migrants from Bangladesh and Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma.
It was reported that 1,158 Bangladeshis and Rohingyas from Myanmar, including women and children, landed illegally by boat in Langkawi, Kedah state on May 10, with the figures reported to be the largest ever to date, state-owned Bernama news agency said.
Myanmar does not recognise the Rohingya people and has refused to engage in talks where the term is used.
