solution of the beast and still the prospect of them provides hope to millions of filipinos already weary of the pandemic jim duggan al-jazeera the leavitt and we have a see a province northern philippines astronauts onboard the international space station have ventured outside on the space walk nasa skate rubin's and victor glover left the station to install support brackets for 6 new solar panels which will arrive on space x. rockets later this year they'll give the space station 30 percent more power. time for a quick check of the headlines here on al-jazeera the u.n. secretary general is calling for international action against me and was military after the most violent day since antiquity protests began the army fired live rounds of huge crowds across the country killing at least 18 people and un's human

rights office described it as a worrying escalation. we're calling on the military to stop the use of force against peaceful protesters we are calling on the entry release everyone who has been arbitrarily detained or the exercise or the rights to freedom of assembly expression exuding sense and she understand is going to be presented. we are also calling on the international community and all the actors had some role in this with the ministry of myanmar to step in and to apply as much pressure as they can to bring the science to an end efforts to revive the 2050 nuclear deal between iran and major powers have stalled the white house says it's disappointed that iran is not ready to hold informal talks along with its european allies iran's foreign ministry says it's too early to be back at the negotiating table terror on wants the u.s. to lift unilateral sanctions 1st. former u.s. president donald trump has hinted he may run for the white house again in 2024 but

has no plans to start his own party he delivered his 1st public speech since leaving office on the final day of a conservative conference in florida the u.n. says 15 people drowned off the coast of libya after a boat carrying more than 100 migrants capsized elsewhere in the mediterranean 360 refugees migrants have been rescued the syrian military saying it said defenses has responded to an israeli strike near damascus state media says miss elsworth fired from the occupied golan heights but most were intercepted in the vicinity of the capital and 47 pro-democracy activists in hong kong have been charged under a controversial security law imposed by beijing they are accused of participating in an official election primary protest leaders of coal for demonstrations outside the court on monday so those are the headlines the news continues here now to syria of the inside story stage and that's the watching live from.

abandoned drifting and in danger the plight of a group over a hangar at sea risks becoming a metaphor for the entire crisis so those responsible to take the man of the consequences of the dispute this is inside story. hello and welcome to the show i'm sam is a than nearly 2 and a half 1000 refugees have risked their lives last year by taking dangerous boat

journeys they're looking for safety and better living conditions after years of systematic discrimination and persecution rights groups are warning thousands more could take such journeys hoping to reach countries mainly in southeast asia well 81 who had been stranded in the undermanned sea for nearly 2 weeks were rescued by the indian coast guard on friday the engine of their boat had broken down in the middle of the sea 8 people died and many fell ill suffering severe dehydration as they ran out of food and water or they left cox's bazar refugee camp in bangladesh with the goal of reaching malaysia the indian government has been trying to arrange for their return to bangladesh but bangladesh officials say they have no obligation to shelter the rocking the boat was found closer to me and mine and indian territories . some of said the under man route where the $81.00 ranger had been stranded is more dangerous than the mediterranean more than $200.00 are believed to have died

or gone missing at sea just last year more than a 3rd of them were children the un agency are says international maritime rules are clear about nations having a duty to rescue those in trouble regardless of nationality or legal status that's where the $951.00 refugee convention comes in for those who have ratified the treaty it lays out their obligations towards refugees this includes not sending them back to the place where they face danger or denying them safe shelter after the 2017 crackdown by me in mass military against the ring of minority more than 740000 have fled to bangladesh many live in crowded camps with dire humanitarian conditions the bangladeshi government has recently relocated thousands of the refugees to remote island rights groups have raised concerns about the location though and the risk of flooding bangladesh has repeatedly demanded the

repatriation of the ring to me in mar but after the recent military coup and we are afraid to go back. let's bring our gas into the show now we have joining us from new delhi commodore de busk are retired navy officer and director of society for policy studies an independent geo political think tank in vancouver yes mean a la a rangar activist and advocate and in colombo sad how mad the south asia campaigner with a focus on bangladesh for amnesty international a warm welcome to you war we could start with commodore day so since the indian coast guard found these refugees why was india so reluctant to take them in. india when it was informed about this particular india what did what was

appropriate at the time which was to disparage the you know still readable asset that could provide water and food because it was understood that this war was drifting for a few days and that some people had even died on board having provided the water and the food and water were the accord those board was on its way as we understand from bangladesh to malaysia so what india did was to contact the bangladeshi government to see what best could be done under the circumstances so given the current situation as far as the rohingya. are confident i could jump in why i could contact bangladeshi authorities if the boat is actually closer to the indian territories. not at all not quite in

indian territory it was on its way as i said from bangladesh to malaysia and india provided immediate support to ensure that they got their food and water but after that india were not in a position to take that if you were gays and bring them to india because if i did of the governments bangladesh or militia well willing to take them then india perhaps could have played a different kind of role but india was not in a position to take them back to india because of this complex issue of. globally or try to reach some point by books and secondly that all india is itself in the regional context so it's unfortunate but the show has got ready dangled in the bilateral issues as they are now up game between me and maya and bangladesh on one hand and between 9 mana and the rest of us on the other and there are other

elements that are. active we've made some good points then use some interesting language which i think opens the door for us to discuss a lot of things when you said tangled and you said the regional context let's bring in chad how maddie under international law who is responsible for sheltering a group of refugees when they're found at the sea it's a very important question that you're phrased and like you've asked about the international human rights law or the international law or to talk about we've seen as recently as last year that the task force of political ration where the countries have emphasized about saving lives at sea irrespective of what kind of migration tasking move it has been irregular migration or or a regular legal form of migration it's more of a concern of the human lives at that time when they're stranded in the sea and in these cases. we've seen last year i mean several 100. people have been stranded in

the scene in many occasions 200 people are reported to have dialup and there was the situation for i think about 2400 people last year bangladesh has taken back 700 of them the others have been stranded for a long time and then eventually found some spaces in other countries such as in the nature of the question that you asked about who is responsible it's supposed to be the nearest state and the state that has the territorial jurisdiction to respond because this is a crisis situation the boat is stranded it's not able to go it's not like it's taking a break in the ocean so had let me play devil's advocate and for the indian perspective and say look if this is a group a boat load of non-citizens who are not technically on indian territory and they're trying to get somewhere else does india still have an obligation all or any country which finds them still have an obligation to say no we must take you into our care

and shelter so that the human rights law and that's where mim member states meet their commitments to protect lives of people who are at risk in the sea and clearly it's about the nearest state who can respond at that time who have their capacities and the deployment of the ocean to come and save those lives you can't just let them stay there for days and and see them die and as you know that there have been at least 8 people who were on that boat who have died and we don't know how many else are now at that same risk ok interesting point yes i mean a lot why were these working are refugees trying to get to malaysia would they have wanted to stay in india if they had the opportunity. genuinely i don't know the answer so that. the issue is much much bigger than we think and when we frame this issue as people illegally using you know

or crossing into the borders of a different nation states we actually take out and we ducked the. the framing of the issue around humanity around the root cause of the problems of why there are you know why there is such a factor that put that puts the rohingya refugees at this much need to actually flee or leave a nation state in specific right now we're talking about anger that we have we have established long * long ago that there is a lot of human rights issues that are happening within bangladesh and of course that is not a responsibility of one nation state alone it's actually a collective responsibility when genocide and mass atrocity take place that the international community needs to care for the victims but the victims and the human

agency you know that that that should come with with caring for refugees for people who are fleeing the violence in their homeland is not really in place and we have seen more and more people trying to flee as a result of that. it's difficult to determine you know whether or not they're going to find a safe haven anywhere as we've heard the discussion just now. i feel as if you know as if there isn't really a place for us on this earth. and that the ocean is the only safe place for us that's a very sad thing to hear commodore today i want to bring you back to actually a point you mentioned when you said. concerns about getting tangled up and the regional context we just heard there from sad that according to international law the country that finds refugees in danger should take them in very clear an

international law is the the underlying perhaps or unspoken truth of india's reluctance is india does is worried it doesn't want to take in a group of or any moehringer refugees that might encourage others to come because as you said india doesn't want to become more in tangled and what is seen as a regional problem that is not my problem each country is thinking. well i'd frame it stated differently 1st of all i think india and the larger issue of refugees i would say that india has gone the extra mile started early just to remind ourselves in 1970 sorry but historically it doesn't doesn't mean anything if you're not if you're not looking out for your obligations in this particular context right i mean for these groups of people see if somebody is

obliged to help them and doesn't it doesn't really help them telling telling them well we've historically been more helpful to others they're still at risk at sea in a boat north with the utmost respect i'd like that before there is a need to remember the historical context which is that india had taken more than 10000000 refugees at a certain point in time now when we speak about the regional context when you talk about international law there is the core of the sale of it see which is that when there is any life in distress then the ownership or the nearest platform that can provide relief to endangered life will act as what the court of the sea the court of the sailor. but once that kind of support of relief is provided when it comes to refugees globally we have seen this in the mediterranean when refugees from the magreb have tried to access southern europe we have seen this in the case of

refugees trying to reach australia different countries have been charged their obligations asked for the 951 convention on refugees not for the record this is only a legal point india is not a signatory to the 1951 invention but yet it has a very large number of very few days of asylum seekers already the rohingya as i'm repeating my words is standard because of the geopolitics and the bilateral between me and maher and long live ish on one hand and between me and mark and the other i see on countries which as i said has a certain history to it i mean this case i would say the global community has at it as far as our in years concerned i think what most yasmeen said is a very sad but true statement that rowing years are stateless and in the united nations security council we have china which is

a permanent member which could have played a more substantive role in respect to me and mark definitely perhaps and the reason upon fixed but has chosen to remain silent so this i think is the global tragedy that we are the one i have empathy all right let me let you take back to let me take that point aside how mad is it enough to say look we've answered the call of the sea we're not signatories to the 951 convention this is a very sad situation because. but instead of taking the responsibility i think every country is passing the responsibility of the other state whereas there are all signatories to of protection of human rights of individuals it's it's not just a 951 refugee convention and many countries aren't signatories to it but there are certain rules that are binding on all states such as the principle of nonperformance but that's for refugees we're in the territory in this situation

like i mentioned about the barley the iteration of the task force about iteration it's commitment just last year in february where they have emphasized on saving lives and distress at sea and saving lives it's not just about extending relief support and with we don't water it's also about their safety somebody kishan if they're stuck in the sea of the boat it's not functioning at the stranded for several weeks that clearly need a better place than just being on the billet and someplace in the high sea and that's something i think every country has been ignoring and passing it on to other states about why that country is not doing it by this country's not doing it and by should we do it i think that's something we've been hearing from almost all of the other countries all right let me play devil's advocate a moment with you yes me and ask the question some would say why did they leave bangladesh they had the relative safety of camps in bangladesh and they go out to sea and risk their lives even further why. that is

a really good question and we are talking about a group of people who have been categorically disenfranchised tortured and asked resized from their own community there is a lot of fragmentation we don't have any i'm on our right so the human rights abuses which have gone documented by human rights groups in the end mark exactly a rights act. and as a result we are seeing. you know a group of people with and heal trauma for you know at the very very. for a very simple reason that they have fled to this day they have not been given enough resources to to endure their own day to day you know day to day functions there is still restricted in a lot of ways facing a lot of harsh reality on the ground in the camps and now with the issues of being

sort of forced to relocate into bus and char. be isolated island there is so many factors that is that is just plain against the rohingya playing against the arts that there are going to be capable of and visioning a better future any day and the issue of the coup and the current uncertainty of life within bangladesh and in myanmar you know the fragmentation and the family separation and so many other issues that pile on us as individuals just no longer are capable of dealing with it are not our own and this is a failure of a collective responsibility that the international community have neglected for a very very moment time it's a human struggle it's very very simple it actually extends further there and then the borderlines it's actually not about people leaving and who is responsible but

it's about what do we owe to each other don't we at least oh humanity. all right let's bring in sad the the right humane response the logical one or the legal one is that people should be repatriated back to their homes but in safety not where they're going to be persecuted is the reality here is that as time goes on this is looking less and less likely especially after that coup in myanmar . certainly the coup makes the possibility of safe voluntary dignified and sustainable returns even more uncertain and i must repeat that we've interviewed several of them directly in carter's bazaar over the years and in most occasions i've heard that they want to call back when the conditions are safe when it's conducive when their rights are restored including their citizenship rights that if they feel dignified and it be safe in their country to go back certainly

the coup doesn't it doesn't guarantee and it makes it far away from there was guarantees. that the tatmadaw or the ability in myanmar is accused of the horrific crimes against humanity and against the ruling that they have committed and clearly this makes it even more volatile right now and we must also remember we are talking about the people of myanmar can feel unsafe right now on the streets protesting but it's also the people there are people who are displaced outside the country because of this conflicts we shouldn't forget that that it's not just the people internally displaced it's not the people who are affected right now it's also people who are outside the country who are equally affected and who must be taken into consideration who should have that opportunity to go back if they wish to and under those conditions so the pressure really builds should build on the myanmar government and the international community has a role there too to really create that condition for the people to go back and say

voluntary unsustainable conditions and dignified conditions out of their homes commodore day you mentioned there that well several countries have i think the words used was kind of abrogated their responsibilities towards the writing of this that make it you mentioned there that we've seen similar scenarios involving other refugees going over the mediterranean is that an acceptable argument or are we downgrading here really the global legal responsibilities which sad pointed out as well as the humane ones which just mean pointed out to help refugees is that whole concept being globally downgraded to navies as they go out and deal with the refugee problem. son it's not an argument it's a very sad observation about the status of the refugee and the asylum seeker globally at last count the un it c r in 2020 had estimated there were about 26000000 less refugees and about

4 and a half 1000000 asylum seekers and my observation want that global community has advocated rarely do you find the united nations at the level of the security council talking about some effective steps whatever has happened is a regional kind of effort and yet i want to add who came to find me why did this particular or you see it from bangladesh to malaysia where as you had raised this point they had the shape that all of the camps in bangladesh my conjecture against that as an analyst is that it appears that there is a fair amount of illegal trafficking of human beings from bangladesh to work to different parts of the tionne and southern asia that appears again. that you are being trafficked maybe and the other point is i think i'm going to be commended

prime minister she has the night particularly at a certain point in providing whatever little shelter and safety. and that should be acknowledged it's alright to raise the question let's take it aside from the research in the documentation that you do why are people fleeing bangladesh are they being this is not the 1st boatload of of ranger to try and make it to malaysia right why are they leaving bangladesh are these people the majority of these people being trafficked or are they simply running away from very difficult circumstances in some of the camps in bangladesh. thank you for the question it's a very important one and i think we should also look into why these people are in battle of which. they have fled persecution and their homes and now they're in bangor we must also note here that no one really wants to become a refugee because a refugee status in spite of all the guarantees and security that human rights law

provides isn't the identity that you would want to hold onto for the rest of your life you want to enjoy their rights as guaranteed to everyone as individual right in bangladesh in the refugee camps that they're living in it's certainly not the best of conditions it's a trade that's highly congested densely populated. the refugees have limitations with regard to their access to health care have to education access to livelihood rather those circumstances if they're refugees who are taking these irregular routes it's it's very natural that they they they want to live better in that they take this risk they want that's what get out into this kind of some of those situations all right i think we've just got a minute left and i want to give the final word if i may to yes mean a lot are you of a tall concerned that what is happening here in reality is turning the riggers into some kind of long term stateless people like the palestinians we hear about an

island but on chaar now being set up for the rigors yes i very very much worry about that every single day and i fear that every every now and then every single crisis that emerged we are going to be you know continuously ostracized as and i'm wanted group of people because the international community cannot really come to a conclusion or come to realise ation that it is the collective responsibility to prevent genocide from happening in the 1st place and ass as as a result. we become the victim that have been neglected for a very long time and in this time it is even more apparent that you know rangar are not given enough support enough aid we're not acknowledged for our agency we're not at the discussion table we are not being listened to and so the issue can be resolved very easily if the international covenant on human rights are taken

a little bit more seriously by all parties let's end on that on a slightly more hopeful note that the parties will take this more seriously and find a solution as thank our guest now commodore they are just mean a lot and sad. and thank you for watching you can see the show again any time by visiting our website al-jazeera dot com for further discussion head over to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story can also join the conversation on twitter our handle there is at a.j. inside story from me sam is a barrel and the entire team here for now it's goodbye. there

is no channel that covers world news like we do we revisit places of the state others are bringing him back and that's a privilege as a journalist. revealing eco friendly solutions to comeback threats to our planet on al-jazeera. march on al-jazeera. 10 years on from the tsunami that struck japan i'll just 0 revisits the people most affected by the disaster football rebels eric cantona presents a new series about iconic players this influence has been as great off the page as on it. pope francis makes history with the 1st papal visit to iraq his 1st trip outside is really since the coronavirus pandemic upfront smuggler montell cut

through the headlines to challenge conventional wisdom hope for the future of the ivory coast to goes to the polls for its column entry elections. march on al-jazeera. hello i'm daryn jordan in doha with the top stories here on al-jazeera the u.n. secretary general is demanding international action against the military in me and after security forces shot dead 18 protesters the u.s. secretary of state anthony blinken has also joined the condemnation calling the violence of horror and he says washington will push for the military to be held accountable these condemnations fall of the most violent days instead.