緬甸表示願爲船民提供幫助

Myanmar, which has received international criticism for its role in Southeast Asia's migrant crisis, now says it is ready to help the thousands of migrants and human trafficking victims stranded at sea.

A foreign ministry statement on Wednesday said Myanmar is deeply concerned "with the sufferings and life-threatening fate" of the so-called boat people, mostly minority Rohingya from Myanmar and Bangladesh.

"Myanmar stands ready to provide humanitarian assistance to anyone who suffered in the sea," said the statement, which added "serious efforts" are being taken to prevent human trafficking and illegal migration, including regular air force and navy patrols.

The crisis began earlier this month when Thailand disrupted longstanding human trafficking networks that targeted Rohingya. The people smugglers fled, leaving thousands of boat people adrift at sea.緬甸表示，願意幫助在海上漂流的成千上萬移民和人口走私活動的受害者。此前緬甸因其在東南亞船民危機中所扮演的角色而招致國際間的批評。

緬甸外交部星期三發表聲明說，緬甸對船民們的苦難和生命危險深感關切。大部分船民是緬甸和孟加拉國的羅興亞人。

緬甸外交部的聲明說：“緬甸已經準備爲所有在海上受苦受難的人提供人道援助。”聲明還說，緬甸當局正在採取措施，防止人口走私和非法移民活動，包括空軍和海軍進行定期巡邏。

船民危機從本月早些時候開始，當時泰國切斷了長期以來走私羅興亞人的運作網絡。蛇頭出逃，聽任成千上萬船民在海上漂流。