U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Anne Richard has urged Myanmar to give citizenship to Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution there, saying that resettling them in a third country was not an answer to the "swelling tide" of boat people in South East Asia.
While wrapping up a three-day visit to Malaysia, Richard said the solution to the migrant crisis was "peace and stability" and added that resettling refugees in the U.S. will entice others to leave their homeland, The New York Times reports.
At least 4,600 boat people from Myanmar and Bangladesh have been rescued from Southeast Asian waters since early May. Several thousand more are believed to be stranded at sea after human smugglers were forced to abandon their boats in the wake of a regional crackdown.