Arakan News Agency
A group of migrants recently rescued by Myanmar will be deported to Bangladesh, officials confirmed on Saturday, as the United Nations chief called on regional nations to prioritize saving the lives of those still stranded at sea.
More than 3,500 migrants have swum to shore or been rescued off the coasts of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh since a Thai crackdown on human-trafficking in early May threw the illicit trade into chaos.
Myanmar has faced increasing international pressure to stem the deluge from its shores and deliver urgent humanitarian relief to thousands still trapped at sea.
On Friday the country’s navy said it had carried out its first rescue of a migrant boat when scores of bare-chested men were found crammed into the hull of a wooden fishing vessel and taken to shore.
Myanmar officials say all 208 men are from Bangladesh and will soon be returned there.
“We are giving humanitarian assistance to them. After that we will deport them back to the relevant country,” Zaw Htay, director of the presidential office, said.
“We have made contact with Bangladeshi border officials on the ground regarding the arrived persons.”
Bangladesh’s border guard force said a team would travel to Myanmar shortly.
“Our commander will go himself. The entire procedure might take up to two or three days to complete,” Major Abu Russell Siddiki, a spokesman at the Teknaf border post, said.
A separate law enforcement source said Bangladesh wanted to make sure Myanmar did not send any Rohingya.
