Myanmar reversed course Wednesday, saying it now likely will attend a regional meeting in Bangkok next week set to address the crisis involving thousands of minority Muslims fleeing the country by boat, reports AP on May 20.
Thailand's Deputy Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai confirmed that Myanmar has accepted its invitation to the May 29 meeting in Thailand. Nay Pyi Taw had been initially reluctant to commit to the meet, claiming it did not accept that Myanmar was the source of the problem.
Thousands of minority Muslim Rohingya and poor Bangladeshis are reported adrift at sea, posing a major crisis for the region.
Myanmar's Deputy Foreign Minister Thant Kyaw told reporters that “we all have to sit down and we all have to consider how to tackle this problem.”
The news of Myanmar’s commitment to the meeting comes as both Malaysia and Indonesia changed tack – after refusing to let the boat people land – now saying they will accept a temporary solution in which the people are housed in camps with the aim of resettlement in a third country. They called on the international community to help, given the scale of the exodus.
Additional reporting from Mizzima/AFP