MIGRANTS STILL AT SEA AS THAI NAVY MULLS ENDING PATROL

Bangkok, 24 Sha’ban 1436/11 June 2015 (MINA) – The Thai navy has changed course after earlier stating that a navy ship being used as a command and control center to aid victims of the Southeast Asian boat people crisis would end its mission Wednesday.

Navy Captain Benjamaporn Wongnakornsawang has since said that the HTMS Ang-Thong, complemented by search helicopters and emergency response units, will instead continue its humanitarian mission in the Andaman Sea while the government mulls its role.

“We will continue the mission until ordered otherwise,” Wongnakornsawang told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).

The navy had previously stated that the Ang-Thong was reaching the end of its two week mission.

Wongnakornsawang sought to clarify that government meetings will now determine the appropriate response and whether to end the deployment.

Meanwhile, continued reports claim that migrants are still adrift at sea.

The Malay Mail reported Wednesday that several boats operated by human trafficking syndicates carrying Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis remain in international waters near the Thai region of Satun.

It said that they are waiting to see if they can enter Malaysia or should sail on to Indonesia.

Since a tri-nation conference May 20, Thailand has since said it will help, but not harbor, the thousands of boat people who remain at sea since it began to crack down on people traffickers May 1.

Malaysia and Indonesia, meanwhile, have said that they will take the boat people in for one year, ascertain which are asylum seekers and which are economic migrants, and then the international community will find homes for them. (T/P001/R04)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)