Int'l delegates to discuss solutions to irregular migration in Thailand

BANGKOK, May 27 (TNA) - Twenty countries and three international organizations have confirmed to take part in a meeting on irregular migration in the Indian Ocean in Thailand on May 29. Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister General Tanasak Patimapragorn told journalists of the update on Wednesday, noting that the upcoming meeting draws officials of 17 countries affected by the irregular migration situation, including Myanmar, a country of origin of the issue, observers from the United States, Switzerland and Japan, and representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). General Tanasak said that Friday's meeting will discuss assistance for migrants in the sea and solutions in the countries of their origin, and that Thailand hopes to see effective solutions from participants in the session. According to the deputy premier and foreign minister, the Thai military has been operating their ships to help migrants aboard their boats in the sea and the assistance, dubbed "floating platform", includes the provision of food and medicines and the compilation of migrants' profiles to facilitate their migration to Malaysia and Indonesia, which have announced to provide shelters to the migrants. The deputy prime minister and foreign minister stressed that Thailand's humanitarian mission has started and will continue until the beginning of the monsoon season, on behalf of the international community, to save people's lives in accordance with what Bangkok earlier discussed with Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. The deputy prime minister and foreign minister acknowledged that Thailand has sought details from the United States in relation to Washington's request to use U-Tapao Airport in the Thai East and Phuket Airport in the Thai South to support their aerial surveys on the migration, insisting, however, that Thai authorities are to supervise the surveys. The deputy prime minister and foreign minister revealed that the Thai military has also asked Washington to deploy US ships to support Thailand's floating platform mission to assist migrants in the sea. (TNA)