DHAKA: More than 2,500 migrants could still be stranded on boats in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, according to estimates by the United Nations (UN), as Thailand prepares to host a regional meeting it said was focused on ‘immediate action’ to tackle the crisis.

Thousands of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and migrants from Bangladesh have tried to land in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia since a Thai crackdown on people smugglers in early May led to trafficker crews abandoning them at sea.

Regional governments have struggled to respond, although images of desperate people crammed aboard overloaded boats with little food or water prompted Indonesia and Malaysia to soften their initial reluctance to allow the migrants to come ashore.

More than seven boats carrying around 2,600 people are thought to be still at sea, according to data from UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) sources.

Friday’s meeting in Bangkok will bring together 17 countries from the Association of southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and elsewhere in Asia, along with the US, Switzerland and international organizations.

‘The meeting focuses on immediate actions to tackle the issue,’ said Panote Preechyanud at the Department of Information at the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs on May 27.

‘It is an urgent call for the region to comprehensively work together to address the unprecedented increase of irregular migration across the Bay of Bengal in recent years.’

The gathering takes place against the grim backdrop of Malaysia’s discovery of nearly 140 shallow graves at 28 suspected people smuggling camps strung along its northern border, some of which authorities believe were abandoned in haste when the Thai crackdown began.

Thailand, under pressure from the US to do more to combat people smuggling, began the crackdown after finding at least 36 bodies in similar graves just across the border.

That made it too risky for smugglers to bring their human cargo ashore, since when more than 3,000 migrants left to fend for themselves have landed in Malaysia and Indonesia, reports todayonline.com.

BDST: 1730 HRS, MAY 27, 2015
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