DHAKA: United Nations chief Ban Ki Moon said on Saturday that saving the lives of migrants stranded at sea in South-east Asia should be a ‘top priority’ as the region battles with an exodus of boat people fleeing persecution and poverty.

The UN Secretary-General said he hoped regional nations would tackle the ‘root causes’ of the current exodus at an upcoming conference in Thailand later this month.

‘But when people are drifting on the sea, how we can search and rescue them and provide life saving humanitarian assistance, that is a top priority at this time,’ he told reporters during a visit to Hanoi, reports The Straits Times.

Ban said he had been in recent discussions with regional leaders in Thailand, Malaysia and Myanmar and urged a ‘very clear addressing of the root causes of this issue, why people are fleeing’.

BDST: 1652 HRS, MAY 23, 2015
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