Why Southeast Asia’s refugee crisis matters
The Diplomat, in collaboration with concerned stakeholders around the world, is launching a new series entitled “Southeast Asia: Refugees in Crisis.”
In May 2015, thousands of Rohingya refugees from the Rakhine State of Myanmar and economic migrants from Bangladesh were found stranded in the Strait of Malacca off the coast of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. This was the start of the latest round of Southeast Asia’s refugee crisis. The image of the overcrowded, shabby boats full of people – haunted and hungry, faced with dwindling supplies of food and water – seized the world’s attention.
Designed with the help of students from Harvard University and Oxford University, the series hopes to not only highlight the ongoing humanitarian tragedy, but also offer potential solutions to this mounting human security threat.
