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Southeast Asian nations pledge cooperation in addressing irregular migration

Xinhua, December 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

As the resumption of dangerous sea journeys in the Bay of Bengal looms, Southeastern Asian countries on Friday affirmed that the only way to reduce loss of life at sea is by working together on comprehensive and sustainable approaches, according to a UN spokesman.

Delegates from more than 20 countries and international organizations met in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday for the 2nd Special Meeting on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean, said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the secretary-general, at a daily news briefing held here Friday.

The UN Refugee Agency's Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Volker Turk said that with an unprecedented 60 million persons displaced today, it has become clear that forced displacement issues are a global phenomenon that no country can address or resolve on its own, Haq warned.

Since 2014, some 95,000 people have made the dangerous journey in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, with more than 1,100 people dying at sea and hundreds more found buried in unmarked mass graves, said Haq. Endit