Abstract

The beginning of the monsoon rains in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, coupled with the international spotlight on human traffickers in the region, appears to have slowed the flight of Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar in recent weeks. But once the storms run their course, sometime around October, migrant departures could again erupt and create another humanitarian crisis in the region.
Regional governments, the United Nations, and the U.S. government should use the intervening four months to begin addressing some of the root push-and-pull factors prompting the refugees to board the boats of traffickers in a risky effort to reach neighboring countries.
Thousands of western Myanmar’s stateless Rohingya, of which there are roughly 1 million, have fled the country each year by boat due to discrimination, dire poverty, and a lack of opportunity. Many of them have been trafficked to work on Thai fishing boats; others have ended up on the Thai border before eventually being trafficked to Malaysia, where many have been able to find menial jobs.