BANGKOK (AP) – Attention turned Friday to the vast ocean off Southeast Asia’s west coast as Malaysian naval vessels searched for stranded boat people and the U.S. military prepared air patrols to step up its involvement.
Thousands of Bangladeshis and Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar are believed to be trapped on crowded boats with little food or water – some after being pushed back by the navies of at least three countries – and the international community has warned that time to save them is running out.
In the first official rescue operation since migrants started washing onto Southeast Asia shores earlier this month, four Malaysian navy ships began searching the country’s territorial waters for the boats. Navy chief Abdul Aziz Jaafar said three helicopters and three other ships were on standby.
After pushing back several vessels earlier in the month, Malaysia and Indonesia said Thursday they will provide temporary shelter to the desperate men, women and children if the international community helps resettle them within a year.
Indonesia said it would not actively search for the migrants, but will rescue those stranded or drifting in the country’s waters close to its shores, said Arrmanatha Nasir, the Foreign Ministry spokesman. He said the country would not push them back out to sea.