UN welcomes landing of 200 people stranded in Southeast Asian waters

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Friday welcomed the landing of more than 200 people who had been stranded at sea off the coast of Myanmar's Rakhine State, saying "the priority is to save lives by getting people safely off these boats as soon as possible."

"After they disembarked, they were taken to a reception center set up by UNHCR in collaboration with local authorities in southern Maungdaw where they are receiving assistance," deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq said at a daily news briefing here.

"The (UN) agency is working with its partners to help the government ensure that the needs of the people -- including water, food, medical assistance and protection -- are met," he said.

"It hopes that this recent positive development will be followed by other disembarkations in Myanmar and across the region, " Haq said.

It is estimated that up to 2,000 people are still stranded on boats in the Bay of Bengal and a further 1,500 in the Andaman Sea, he said.

Since Wednesday's announcement that Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand would work together to assist people in distress at sea, UNHCR has been talking to governments about support it can provide and has shared recommendations on the way forward, which include meeting emergency humanitarian needs and jointly finding medium-to- longer term solutions.

UNHCR said it had already beefed up its response in Indonesia's Aceh and North Sumatra provinces, where most of the rescues had taken place. More than 1,800 refugees have arrived since May 10.

In Malaysia, where more than 1,100 people have arrived since May 10, UNHCR has offered its assistance to the Malaysian authorities and is awaiting a response. In Thailand, UNHCR is distributing relief items to recent boat arrivals and others found after their jungle camps were abandoned by smugglers. Enditem