Thousands of people, both Muslim Rohingyas fleeing

persecution in Myanmar and Bangladeshis seeking

jobs in Malaysia, have been abandoned at sea
recently in Southeast Asia by smugglers fearing arrest
as Thailand cracks down on human traffickers. At least
8,000 people are in peril, yet the Southeast Asian
nations off whose shores they drift have been
reluctant to save them.
Myanmars mistreatment of the Rohingya which has
been roundly condemned by the United States, the
European Union, the United Nations and human rights
groups is the root of this crisis. Its government has
even blocked the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations from discussing the Rohingyas plight.
In the last three years, about 140,000 people in
Myanmar have been driven from their homes by antiRohingya violence. The United Nations has warned
that 40,000 Rohingyas are in camps within several
hundred yards of the coast, with monsoon season
arriving within weeks.
In the first quarter of this year, the United Nations
estimated that 25,000 people fled Myanmar and
Bangladesh. Just this week, more than 1,500 refugees
from the two countries have made landfall in
Indonesia and Malaysia.
Last June, the United States downgraded Thailand and
Malaysia to the worst category in its annual human
trafficking report. But the government of Gen. Prayuth
Chan-ocha, who seized power in Thailand in a coup a
year ago, is only now cracking down on smugglers.
After a mass grave at a smugglers camp was
discovered in Thailand on May 1, the government
acted quickly to arrest a suspect and three local
officials. Bangladesh has also moved forcefully against
smugglers, arresting more than 100 suspects in recent
months.
The problem is that while governments are finally
taking steps against smugglers, they have shown little
mercy for their victims. Thailand has deported many
Rohingyas back to Myanmar, where they face

continued persecution and death threats. On Tuesday,

the Indonesian Navy turned back a ship packed with
refugees.
Given the magnitude of the crisis, Southeast Asian
leaders must find a way out of this impasse.
Meanwhile, the governments of Thailand, Indonesia
and Malaysia have a moral responsibility to take
emergency action to avert catastrophic loss of life and
to offer protection to victims of human trafficking.