alaysian politician calls on U.S. to lean on Myanmar 04:29
(CNN)Meetings between the foreign ministries of Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia are taking place Wednesday in an effort to ward off a looming humanitarian disaster. Thousands of Rohingya migrants remain stranded in the Andaman Sea, while authorities around the region refuse to take them in.
The scale of the crisis is still unknown. No organization, from the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to Rohingya rights groups, knows how many boats there are. The number of migrants stranded aboard these ships, however, is estimated to be in the thousands.
Despite a plea from U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, urging Southeast Asian leaders to uphold "international law" and "the obligation of rescue at sea," Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia are currently refusing to accept the "boat people" -- men, women and children who remain on ships, with rapidly dwindling provisions.
Thailand supplied them with food and water in the middle of last week, the last confirmed resupply.
CNN understands that the ships, which remain at sea, are trying to elude patrols and the refugees are effectively being held prisoner by their smugglers. Official sources, who have requested not to be named, say the smugglers may be telling people they can only accept landing rights in Malaysia as the smugglers are possibly Thai and wish to avoid what has become a very high-profile issue.
Thailand will host a regional conference on May 29, where the issue will be high up on the agenda.
More immediately, Malaysia will play host to three-way meetings Wednesday between the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Despite its pivotal role in the crisis, the Myanmar government will not send a representative.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has said that while the humanitarian disaster at sea is the most pressing concern, a State Department official tells CNN the fundamental issue lies in Myanmar.
Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Tom Malinowski, told CNN's Hala Gorani that the U.S. has offered assistance and is urging the governments of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia to work together to conduct search and rescue missions, and to allow the refugees to land.
"Our first responsibility is to save lives and that is something that has to be done in the coming days and hours. In the longer run, the biggest challenge is to get at the root cause of this crisis, the treatment of the Rohingya population inside Myanmar.