"This week, the full impact of the Burmese government repression [2] of Rohingyas, one of its internal minority populations, was exposed to the world. Thousands of Burmese refugees have been stranded in boats [3] in the Andaman Sea and Malaccan Straits as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia try to prevent them from landing on their shores [4]. There are great fears for the well being of these people. The recent stand by Australian governments to reject asylum seekers and turn boats around [5] has helped to create this inhumane situation by empowering other countries to do the same."