Myanmar launches val operation to save stranded migrants

Bangkok, May 22: The Myanmar authorities have launched the first val operation to save an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 migrants stranded in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, media reported on Friday. The information ministry confirmed in a press release that the vy rescued 208 Bangladeshis off the western Myanmarese coast of Rakhine on Thursday night and Friday morning, as reported by the Democratic Voice of Burma news portal. The migrants’ boat was of Thai origin and set sail from Bangladesh, accompanied by a smaller supply boat; upon discovery, it was escorted to land and its occupants were provided with shelter and humanitarian aid. The rescue operation coincided with Vice President Nyan Tun’s statement at a conference that Myanmar would comply with its intertiol obligations regarding illegal migrants. The same day, Myanmar’s President Thein Sein received US Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken, who visited the capital y Pyi Taw to discuss the country’s plan for tackling the migration crisis in Southeast Asia. (IANS)