ARNO said the deserted migrants, consisting of Rohingya women and children fleeing large-scale persecution and mass atrocities in Myanmar, were now in distress and trauma. They were also facing starvation.

'€œThey are in danger of being lost and deserve all assistance and shelter, well in time, from the international community in accordance with article 98 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,'€ ARNO said in a release on Thursday.

'€œWe appeal to costal countries in the region to provide the necessary search and rescue services.'€

ARNO asserted that countries should address the root cause of issue.

'€œThe Myanmar government has to bear all responsibility for the untold sufferings of the Rohingya people for not allowing them to have peaceful lives in their own homeland,'€ it said.

ARNO said Rohingya and Bangladeshi undocumented migrants were ASEAN issues, particularly when they reached ASEAN countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

'€œThe issue must be discussed in ASEAN for a regional solution to be found in cooperation with other affected countries and the international community. Human rights are universal and Myanmar should not be allowed to call it a domestic issue,'€ it said.

It further said that the UN should intervene in the matter on grounds of humanitarianism, in order to save the lives of thousands victimized at the hands of human traffickers and people smugglers, and for a permanent solution to the Rohingya problem. (ebf)(+++)

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