In the first three months of this year, some 25,000 people, mostly from the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority, left the Bay of Bengal by boat in search of a better life. Instead, they have suffered the most appalling treatment at the hands of ruthless smugglers and unsympathetic governments. At least 300 have died from “starvation, dehydration and beatings”, according to the UN. Between 6,000 and 20,000 are now adrift at sea, turned away from Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia in what one human rights campaigner likened to a sickening game of “human ping pong”. The situation is desperate. If action is not taken, dozens or possibly hundreds of people could die.
今年頭3個月，約有2.5萬人——大多是受到迫害的穆斯林羅興亞(Rohingya)少數民族——乘船離開孟加拉灣，以尋求改善生活狀況。然而，他們卻遭到了殘忍的走私犯和一些無情的政府最駭人聽聞的對待。聯合國(UN)稱，至少有300人死于“饑餓、脫水和毒打”。現在還有6000到兩萬人相繼被泰國、馬來西亞和印度尼西亞拒絕入境，不得不繼續在海上漂流，一位人權活動人士將這種相互推諉比作一場令人作嘔的“人類乒乓球”比賽。形勢極為嚴峻。如果不采取行動，數十人乃至數百人可能都會面臨死亡。