Eighteen hundred migrants fleeing North Africa have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea this past year in the burgeoning tide of of smuggler vessels ferrying migrants from North Africa to Europe. Just today the EU has decided to quit ignoring this human tragedy by destroying the smugglers ships before they take on their human cargo. This solution hopefully will save lives, but will not address the problem of why people wish to flee their country of origin.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Rohingya and Bangladeshis are abandoned by traffickers and turned away by Malaysia and Thailand. The Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority in Buddhist majority Myanmar, have been turned away and left to drift at sea. "It's maritime Ping Pong with human life...If these people aren't treated and brought to shore soon, we are going to have a boat full of corpses," said Joe Lowry, a spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration in Bangkok, on a boat carrying hundreds of migrants from Myanmar drifting in the Andaman Sea between Thailand and Malaysia.
In 1979, Vietnamese boat people faced the same conditions. The crisis was resolved by the rich countries of the world agreeing to take them in, countries like the U.S, Frqnce, Canada, and Australia. Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong were several of the countries that acted as transit countries with refugees arriving there to be resettled in other countries. Why can't we do that with today's boat people? This current problem is another human tragedy that needs to be addressed.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Rohingya and Bangladeshis are abandoned by traffickers and turned away by Malaysia and Thailand. The Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority in Buddhist majority Myanmar, have been turned away and left to drift at sea. "It's maritime Ping Pong with human life...If these people aren't treated and brought to shore soon, we are going to have a boat full of corpses," said Joe Lowry, a spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration in Bangkok, on a boat carrying hundreds of migrants from Myanmar drifting in the Andaman Sea between Thailand and Malaysia.
In 1979, Vietnamese boat people faced the same conditions. The crisis was resolved by the rich countries of the world agreeing to take them in, countries like the U.S, Frqnce, Canada, and Australia. Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong were several of the countries that acted as transit countries with refugees arriving there to be resettled in other countries. Why can't we do that with today's boat people? This current problem is another human tragedy that needs to be addressed.
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