WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States is willing to take in Rohingya refugees as part of international efforts to cope with Southeast Asia's stranded boat people, the State Department said Wednesday.
Spokeswoman Marie Harf said the U.S. is prepared to take a leading role in any multicountry effort, organized by the United Nations refugee agency, to resettle the most vulnerable refugees.
In the past three weeks, more than 3,000 people - Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar and Bangladeshis trying to escape poverty - have landed in overcrowded boats on the shores of various Southeast Asian countries. Aid groups say thousands more are stranded at sea after human smugglers abandoned their boats because of a crackdown by authorities.
Harf welcomed the governments' decision "to uphold their responsibilities under international law and provide humanitarian assistance and shelter to 7,000 vulnerable migrants." The U.S. would consider requests from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and International Organization for Migration for funds to help receive and screen refugees as they come to shore.
Harf said since Oct. 1, the U.S. has resettled more than 1,000 Rohingya. Last year, the U.S. accepted nearly 70,000 refugees - people with a well-founded fear of persecution - from around the world.