Washington: The United States on Thursday urged Southeast Asian nations to work together to save hundreds of migrants abandoned by people smugglers in rickety boats adrift in the Andaman Sea.
"We are concerned about the situation and we urge countries of the region to work together to save lives at sea," a State Department spokesman, Jeff Rathke, said.
US ambassadors in region were coordinating with UN agencies and with the Asian governments who have refused entry to the desperate migrants to "discuss ways of providing assistance."
"There are many lives that are in danger, and that`s why we think the priority has to be save lives, and we urge governments to continue to accommodate these people who are on the seas," Rathke told reporters.
A boat crammed with scores of the persecuted Muslim Rohingya minority from Myanmar, including many young children, was found drifting in Thai waters Thursday as Malaysia turned away two other vessels carrying hundreds of migrants.
Malaysia and Indonesia have vowed to bar ships bearing migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh who are flooding into Southeast Asia.
But UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Thursday urged Southeast Asian countries not to turn back the migrants, telling them that rescue at sea was an international obligation.
Rathke stressed it was "an urgent regional challenge, that needs to be addressed regionally through a coordinated international effort, in accordance with international conventions and with maritime law."
Washington "appreciated" that some governments in the region have taken in many refugees, and welcomed plans by Thailand for a regional conference on the issue on May 29.
But Rathke also called on Myanmar to meet an "urgent need to fulfil commitments to improve the living conditions of those affected .. in Rakhine state."
An estimated 1.3 million Rohingya scratch out an existence in Rakhine, one of Myanmar`s poorest states -- tens of thousands are trapped in displacement camps, with conditions outside often worse.
Deputy Secretary Tony Blinken was meeting Thursday with the ambassadors from Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar for previously scheduled talks but would raise the migrant crisis, Rathke said.
