"29 MAY 2015 - BANGKOK, THAILAND:  VOLKER TURK, of the UNHCR, addresses the opening of the ""Special Meeting on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean."" Thailand organized and hosted the meeting at the Anantara Siam Hotel in Bangkok. Turk specifically mentioned Myanmar's treatment of ethnic minorities as a source of the boat people in the Andaman Sea. The meeting brought together representatives from the 5 countries impacted by the boat people exodus: Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, which have all received boat people, and Myanmar (Burma) and Bangladesh, where they are coming from. Non-governmental organizations, like the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as well as countries responding to the crisis, like the United States, also attended the meeting. A total of 22 organizations attended the one day conference.     PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ"
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