(MENAFN- Arab News) BANGKOK: Southeast Asian nations agreed on Friday to intensify search and rescue efforts to help vulnerable 'boat people' stranded in the region's seas.

More than 4000 migrants have landed in Indonesia Malaysia Thailand Myanmar and Bangladesh since Thailand launched a crackdown on people-smuggling gangs this month. Around 2000 may still be adrift in boats on the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal the UN said.
Countries affected by the crisis agreed at the meeting in Bangkok to set up an anti-trafficking task force and approved a wide-ranging list of recommendations to tackle the 'root causes' of the crisis although the plan was carefully worded to avoid upsetting Myanmar which denies it is the source of the problem.
'That the summit took place at all with this wide participation is itself a good result' William Lacy Swing director general of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) told Reuters.
'It's a very important first step. Having Myanmar there was key. I'm pretty optimistic. We're pleased that they've retained an emphasis on intensifying search and rescue operations.' While some of the migrants are Bangladeshis escaping poverty at home many are members of Myanmar's 1.1 million Rohingya Muslim minority who live in apartheid-like conditions in the country's Rakhine state.
'You cannot single out my country' Htein Lin director general at Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and head of the country's delegation had said in his opening remarks. 'In the influx of migration Myanmar is not the only country.'
Myanmar does not consider the Rohingya citizens rendering them effectively stateless while denying it discriminates against them or that they are fleeing persecution. It does not call them Rohingya but refers to them as Bengalis indicating they are from Bangladesh.
The Bangkok gathering brought together 17 countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and elsewhere in Asia along with the United States Switzerland and international bodies such as the UNHCR the UN's refugee agency and the IOM.
One delegate said Myanmar had pushed for other participants not to use the term 'Rohingya' and that most were respecting Myanmar's request.
The final statement included a paragraph that called for addressing factors in the areas of origin of migrants including 'promoting full respect for human rights' as well as investing in economic development. It did not mention Myanmar by name.
'Myanmar agreed to this paper' Norachit Sinhaseni permanent secretary of Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told reporters.
Volker Turk Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at the UNHCR said earlier the deadly pattern of migration could only be ended if Myanmar addressed discrimination against its Rohingya minority.
'This is a very good beginning' Turk said after the meeting. 'There is a strong paragraph on root causes in the agreement... There is a sense of opening from Myanmar that I welcome. There was a discussion about Rakhine State.'
There were also pledges of money to help deal with the crisis from the US Australia and Japan.
Officially called the Special Meeting on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean the gathering took place against the grim backdrop of Malaysia's discovery of nearly 140 graves at 28 suspected people smuggling camps strung along its northern border.