WUNRN
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/15/asia/thailand-malaysia-rohingya-refugees/
Stranded on Boats in the Asian Seas – Immigrant Women’s Faces
Rohingya migrant women cry as
they sit on a boat adrift. Many on board the rickety ship were women and young
children, without food or water, looking for a safe harbor to take them in.
This boat was found floating
with a broken engine. It's captain had left, but two crew remained on board,
said the governor of Thailand's Satun Province, Dejrat Simsiri.
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http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/Media.aspx?IsMediaPage=true&LangID=E
Search & Rescue
at Sea & Protection Of Human Rights of Refugees, Imperative to Save Lives
in the Bay of Bengal & Andaman Sea - Joint UN Statement – WOMEN &
CHILDREN
19 May 2015 - We, the undersigned*, strongly urge
the leaders of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, to protect migrants and
refugees stranded on vessels in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, to
facilitate safe disembarkation, and to give priority to saving lives,
protecting rights, and respecting human dignity.
Grave events in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea in recent days
involving migrants and refugees – Rohingya and others – from Bangladesh and
Myanmar confirm that vulnerable people around the world are moving in search of
safety and dignity, fleeing persecution, abject poverty, deprivation,
discrimination, and abuse. Such perilous journeys, whether by land, sea, or
air, have become a global phenomenon.
In Southeast Asia, more than 88,000 people have made the dangerous
voyage by sea since 2014, including 25,000 who arrived in the first quarter of
this year alone. Nearly 1,000 are believed to have perished at sea due to the
precarious conditions of the voyage, and an equal number because of mistreatment
and privation at the hands of traffickers and abusive smugglers. In the Bay of
Bengal, migrants and refugees are fed only white rice and are subjected to
violence, including sexual violence. Women are raped. Children are separated
from their families and abused. Men are beaten and thrown overboard.
We are deeply concerned at reports that boats full of vulnerable women,
men and children are unable to land and are stranded at sea without access to
urgently needed food, water, and medical assistance. We urge States in the
region to protect the lives of all aboard by allowing the passengers on these
overcrowded boats to disembark safely.
We urgently call on leaders, with the support of ASEAN, to:
1. Make saving lives the top priority by inter alia significantly
strengthening Search and Rescue (SAR) Operations.
2. Stop boat push-backs and measures to ‘help on’ boats to leave territorial
waters, while ensuring that all measures taken are in strict accordance with
the principle of non-refoulement and other fundamental human
rights standards.
3. Provide for effective, predictable disembarkation to a place of safety with
adequate and humane reception conditions.
4. Avoid the use of immigration detention and other punitive measures, and
ensure that the human rights of all migrants and refugees are protected, and
that all actions in regard to children are guided by the best interests of the
child.
5. Set in place screening procedures staffed jointly by government and relevant
international organization personnel to identify the individual circumstances
of all those arriving, including a) individuals in need of protection as
refugees, asylum-seekers, or stateless persons, b) victims of trafficking or
persons at risk of torture or other cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment if
returned to their country of origin, c) migrants with health conditions in need
of emergency medical care and first aid assistance, and d) migrants or others
interested in voluntary return home.
6. Expand avenues for safe and legal migration, including for labour migration
at all skills levels.
7. Expand efforts to prosecute traffickers and smugglers for their crimes in
full accordance with international standards for human rights, while fully
respecting the rights of victims.
8. Redouble efforts, nationally and through strengthened international
cooperation, to address ‘push factors’ and the root causes of refugee and
migrants flows, including discrimination, deprivation, persecution, and
violations of human rights.
9. Put in place dedicated measures to combat xenophobia and discrimination
against any group on the basis of race, sex, language, religion, ethnicity,
nationality and national origin, or other status.
*António Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees; Zeid Ra’ad Al
Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; William L. Swing,
Director-General of the International Organization for Migration; and Peter
Sutherland, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for
International Migration and Development