Week1 - Myanmar

Myanmar Rohingya migrants 'begging for help' from boat

 A group of 350 migrants from Myanmar have told an activist by phone that they have been abandoned by their crew and need help.

The migrants, including 50 women and 84 children, say they have had no food or water for three days.

The passengers were calling for help and crying down the phone, said Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project which works with the Rohingya ethnic minority.

The migrants are not sure where they are and their boat is drifting.

"They say the boat is a Thai boat and the crew and captain are Thai. They have been two months at sea. The day before yesterday crew and captain abandoned the boat, arranged a boat for themselves, and they took parts of the engine so it's not working," Ms Lewa told the BBC on Tuesday.

Signalling for help

The migrants' location is unclear but they think they may be close to the Malaysian island of Langkawi. They can see land and they said they have seen several ships in the area and have signalled for help but none has approached.

Earlier on Tuesday, Indonesia said it had turned away a boat the previous day carrying hundreds of migrants believed to be from Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Indonesia's navy said it provided the vessel with food and water on Monday before sending it back out to sea.

It said that it did so because the migrants wanted to reach Malaysia, but an international migration agency said the decision was "shocking".

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Analysis - Jill McGivering, BBC News

So far, South East Asian countries have been reluctant to tackle this issue. For a start, they don't want to offend Myanmar whose poor treatment of the Rohingyas is at the heart of the problem. Thailand's plan to bring together officials from origin and destination countries is an important acknowledgement of the need for co-ordinated action.

But it is less clear what it might achieve. The timing of the meeting - still several weeks away - is a slow response to a very immediate crisis. Thousands of migrants are stranded at sea. The latest decision by the Indonesian military to push back several hundred is a worrying precedent. Even for those who arrive safely in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia and are classed as refugees, the future is bleak.

Many stay in overcrowded detention centres or community housing - but they remain marginalised with no access to formal education and work. The Rohingyas are seen as an unwelcome burden and, with the surge in numbers this year, only a tiny percentage will fulfil the dream of final settlement in a third country.

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As many as 8,000 migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar are believed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to be stranded at sea.

Correspondents say people smugglers who ferry the migrants are now reluctant to follow their usual route through Thailand because of a government campaign there against them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32701203



 Structure of the Lead：

   WHO-A group of 350 migrants from Myanmar

    WHEN-May 2015

    WHAT-The migrants were calling for help.

    WHY-Crew and captain abandoned the boat.

    WHERE-at sea

    HOW-not given

Keywords：
migrants 移居的 流浪的
drifting  漂流 遊蕩
abandoned 被遺棄的
arranged  安排 籌備
engine  引擎
signalled 示意  
 vessel  船
agency  代理 政府機構 中介
 reluctant  勉強的 不情願的 
precedent  在先的  先前的
smugglers  走私者 走私船
campaign   競選活動