Thailand Minister of Foreign Affairs Don Pramudwinai (Source :chiangraitimes)Bangkok (VNA) - Thailand's Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai on December 4 urged countries in the region to increase efforts to tackle migration via the Bay of Bengal this year, warning that the issue will develop complicatedly.
At an East Asian conference on migration held in Bangkok, the minister stressed that migration is a long-term issue that needs continued coordination among regional nations towards a sustainable and comprehensive solution.
“"It's clear that we need an explicit and efficient mechanism to manage and control the negative impacts of irregular migration," said Don Pramudwinai.
In recent years, thousands of migrants, most from Myanmar and Bangladesh, have made perilous voyages across the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea to Malaysia and Indonesia and Thailand is the first transit place of human trafficking rings in the region.
The conference took place at the start of the four-month “sailing season”, the busiest time for smuggling and trafficking ships plying the Bay of Bengal. It was the second round of talks that were launched in May amid a migration crisis prompted by a humantrafficking crackdown in Thailand.
According to sources from Bangkok, the conference ended with a Thailand-initiated plan to be given to directly related countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh for consideration.
The plan focuses on protecting migrants, preventing migrant waves and accusing human traffickers.-VNA
