Still, the meeting produced some signs of progress. Not least was its being held at all: South-East Asian politics is notably conflict-averse, and meetings at which politicians discuss a source of regional shame in public are rare. Then there were the attendees: Bangladesh and Myanmar were absent from the earlier talks involving Indonesia and Malaysia, but they sent representatives to Bangkok. One participant said that the word Rohingya was used several times, even by delegates from Myanmar (ethnic Burmese tend to call Rohingyas “Bengalis”, as a way of distancing Myanmar from the problem). The UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) were promised access to the migrants. America pledged millions to the IOM; Australia did the same for humanitarian aid in Myanmar. A joint statement called for “addressing root causes” of the exodus.