Human Rights Watch calls not to push away migrant’s boats

International human rights groups have called on Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia not to push away illegal migrants' boats from their shores, and warned of the miserable humanitarian conditions of the migrants that threatens their lives.

The Deputy Asia Director of Human Rights Watch criticized the Asian governments "cold-hearted policies" that puts thousands of lives at risk." He also called on the three governments to cooperate together to rescue incoming migrants, offer them humanitarian aid, and help in processing claims, and resettlement places for those "in need of international protection".

According to the International Organization of Migrants' estimations, eight thousand migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh are currently on boats in the Andaman Sea and the Strait of Malacca. Amnesty International claims that a boat of 350 migrants has been stranded in Southern Thailand for possibly over two months, with no crew on board, and passengers are in need of food, drinking water, and medical care.

Meanwhile, HRW have said that senior Thai officials have spoken of the government adopting a policy of pushing boats away from Thai shores after providing them with fuel, food and water.

Rohingya - and increasingly Bangladeshi – migrants have been smuggled for years through Thailand in hopes of finding work in Malaysia and other countries. More than 2,000 migrants have landed on Malaysian and Indonesian shores over the last few days, after Thai officials launched a crackdown earlier this month following the discovery of 33 corpses at an abandoned human-trafficking camp near the Malaysian border.