Nearly 800 desperate migrants from Burma and Bangladesh
were rescued from a sinking vessel by fishermen off Indonesia ’s
coast on Friday as the boat people crisis in south-east Asia
continued to escalate.
Human Rights Watch condemned Malaysia, Thailand
and Indonesia for playing a deadly game of “human ping pong” in
refusing to allow more dangerously overladen(裝載過多的) boats carrying thousands fleeing
poverty and persecution(迫害) to land on their shores.
As the United Nations warned of a “massive humanitarian(人道主義的)disaster”, up to 8,000 migrants were
believed to be abandoned at sea by smugglers(走私者) scared off by Thailand’s recent crackdown on
human traffickers.
The vessels are packed with ethnic Muslim Rohingya escaping
discrimination and sectarian(宗教的) violence in Buddhist-majority Burma and impoverished(窮困的) economic migrants fleeing Bangladesh.
In an impassioned plea(懇求) to regional governments on Friday, the International Organisation(組織) for Migration, implored: “In the
name of humanity, let these migrants land.”
But Burma , which
refuses citizenship to the Rohingya, looked likely to snub a regional meeting
called by Thailand
Reports emerged of horrific scenes on the sinking boat, with 794 on
board including 61 children, before it was rescued 30 miles off Indonesia
Passengers said the captain fled by speedboat five days ago after
destroying the engine, and fighting between the Rohingya and Bangladeshis broke
out as food and water ran out. Dozens died in the fighting or from illness, it
was said. Among the dead was the 20-year-old brother of Manu Abudul Salam, 19,
a Rohingya. “They thought the captain was from our country, so they attacked us
with stick and knives,” she told Associated Press.
“If I had known that the boat journey would be so horrendous, I would
rather have just died in Myanmar [Burma
Bangladeshi survivor Saidul Islam, 19, said the vessel was hot and
cramped. “We could not stand up. When we asked for water, the captain hit us
with wire.”
Another, named Amin, said the
captain would shoot dead migrants who asked for food.
The vessel was half under water when found off Aceh province on Thursday
with children swimming around it. Six fishing boats ferried the exhausted
passengers ashore, where they were taken to a warehouse in Langsa. Eight who
were critically ill were taken to hospital.
“They were killing each other, throwing people overboard,” Sunarya, the
police chief in Langsa, told AFP. “Because [the boat] was overcapacity, some
people had to go and probably they were defending themselves.”
