Thailand's foreign minister on Friday urged regional nations to redouble efforts to tackle the causes of this year's Bay of Bengal migrant crisis, warning the issue "will not simply go away".
Delegations from across Southeast Asia met in Bangkok for talks over migration, six months after a belated Thai crackdown on human trafficking gangs saw thousands of migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh abandoned at sea.
The summit came as boats crammed with migrants traditionally depart following the end of the monsoon season around November.
Horror stories of kidnap, coercion and hunger emerged from the hundreds who staggered ashore or were eventually rescued by Thai, Indonesian and Malaysian authorities after weeks at sea following the crackdown in May.
Thai authorities acted after dozens of skeletons of migrants were found in jungle camps on the border with Malaysia -- grisly evidence of a trafficking trail that reached from Myanmar and Bangladesh southwards through the Indian Ocean.
The kingdom has arrested scores of people, including a senior army general and high-ranking civilian officials, for their alleged roles in conducting the multi-million dollar annual trade in humans through Thailand.
"This problem is not a short-lived one. It will not simply go away," Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said in his opening address. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
For more information - Viist here.
No comments:
Post a Comment