Southeast Asia is following Australia’s lead turning back migrant boats

Australia’s hard-hearted policy of turning back asylum-seeker boats seems to have become a blueprint for its regional neighbors dealing with unwanted migrants.

As many as 8,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar and impoverished Bangladeshis looking for work are currently stuck on rickety boats — which the United Nations has described as "floating coffins" — in the Andaman Sea, caught in a horrific game of “maritime ping-pong” as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia refuse to accept them. 

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The United Nations has warned of a looming “massive humanitarian crisis” if Southeast Asian countries don’t open their borders to the migrants, who are dying from thirst and hunger after spending several months at sea.

Such is the level of desperation on the boats that people have been killed in fights over food. 

“One family was beaten to death with wooden planks from the boat, a father, a mother and their son,” Mohammad Amin, 35, told the Guardian. “And then they threw the bodies into the ocean.”

Yet despite the shocking accounts of human suffering, the nearby governments are refusing to relax their tough stance to avoid triggering what they say would be a deluge of migrants. 

While some stranded boats have received supplies from local fishermen and authorities, and a few have even been rescued, much more needs to be done to avoid a human catastrophe. 

Many of the refugees are Muslims and want to land in Muslim-majority Indonesia or Malaysia. But getting there is becoming even more difficult, with smugglers abandoning their boats as the countries around the Andaman Sea crack down on illegal arrivals. 

For the politicians, it appears to be more important to send a clear message that migrants are not welcome in their countries than it is to save the lives of thousands of people at risk of perishing in horrendous conditions.

"What do you expect us to do?" Malaysian Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Jafaar asked the Associated Press.

"We have been very nice to the people who broke into our border. We have treated them humanely, but they cannot be flooding our shores like this."

Thai Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha also told the Associated Press his country couldn’t afford to accept the migrants.

"If we take them all in, then anyone who wants to come will come freely," he said. "Where will the budget come from?"

A summit to discuss the crisis is due to be held in Thailand later this month. But even if the participating countries come up with a solution to the emergency, it will come too late for many migrants. 

While Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have been condemned by the United Nations for their hardline position, they have found a sympathetic supporter in Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. 

Abbott's government was the architect of Australia's controversial border protection policy Operation Sovereign Borders, a military-led operation to "combat maritime people smuggling and protect Australia's borders" by turning back asylum-seeker boats.

He agrees with the actions of his counterparts in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

“I don’t apologize in any way for the action that Australia has taken to preserve safety at sea by turning boats around where necessary,” Abbott was quoted by the Australian Associated Press as saying. 

“And if other countries choose to do that, frankly that is almost certainly absolutely necessary if the scourge of people smuggling is to be beaten.”

Even if it costs thousands of lives.