STATEMENT RELEASED ON 27 MAY 2015Please find herein the Joint NGO Statement ahead of the intergovernmental Special Meeting on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean being held on 29 May 2015 hosted by the Royal Thai Government in Bangkok. The signatories below represent more than 600 non-­‐governmental and civil society organisations operating across Asia and the Pacific regions.***********************************************************************************************************************************We the undersigned welcome  the decision  of the  governments of  Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand to provide temporary shelter and protection to refugees and migrants rescued at sea as a step in the right direction.We acknowledge that Thailand has called for a Special Meeting on Irregular Migration, on the 29th of May 2015 with 17 states invited to attend. We are hopeful that the meeting will pave the way for longer term, sustainable and durable solutions to address the irregular movements by sea from those seeking to escape poverty and/or persecution.We are encouraged by announcements of the Indonesian, Malaysian, and Myanmar governments that search and rescue operations will be conducted to locate and rescue people in boats still at sea. We urge other governments to follow suit in conducting their own search and rescue operations.We reiterate that all people who are in need have the right to request and receive humanitarian assistance and international protection with special attention paid to vulnerable women and children. All rescue at sea and interception operations should ensure access to disembarkation and access to full and fair asylum procedures for those who express a need for international protection. Furthermore, we believe that no refugee should be penalized as a result of the way that she or he entered a country. The reception arrangements for those rescued at sea should be in line with international standards.All authorities involved in border and immigration management should treat all persons with dignity and respect and in accordance with their obligations under human rights law.Practical protection safeguards are required to be put in place and the differentiated protection requirements of people in this mixed population movement must be taken into consideration.We are committed to support the efforts to provide humanitarian aid to the population.We strongly urge the States involved to:Provide people rescued immediate access to humanitarian assistance, especially vulnerable women and children, with adequate food, water, health care, shelter and sanitation.Allow and facilitate access by humanitarian agencies and international organizations with protection mandates.Ensure that people rescued at sea are not penalized for the way they have entered the country.Those  in  need  of  international  protection  should  be  given  access  to asylum procedures.Explore and pursue durable solutions with processes that draw input from affected persons.Ensure procedural transparency and accountability to affected persons such that they are accorded due process of law and are fully informed of their rights and responsibilities and the limitations and time frames of any proposed solution.Urgently develop regional and national solutions that address the root causes of refugee and migrant outflows.Signatories:Action AidAction Contre la FaimAlternative ASEAN Network on BurmaAMAL Human Development NetworkAmnesty International AustraliaAsia Disaster Risk and Response NetworkAsia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and DevelopmentAsia Pacific Refugee Rights NetworkAsia-­‐Pacific Solidarity CoalitionAustralian Council for International DevelopmentAustralian National Committee on Refugee WomenBadhan Hijra Sangha, BangladeshBangladesh Women’s Health CoalitionBRACBurma PartnershipBusiness and Welfare Initiatives BangladeshCambodian Human Rights and Development AssociationCARAM Asia BerhadCARAM Asia NetworkCARAM CambodiaCatholic Office for Emergency Relief and RefugeesCentre for Migration Research and Development, Sri LankaCentre for Participatory Research and Development, BangladeshCentre for Refugee Research, University of New South WalesChildren and Women Trust, PakistanChurch World ServiceCoastal Association for Social Transformation Trust, BangladeshCommunity Development Services, Sri LankaCommunity World Service AsiaEmpower IndiaEqual Rights TrustEquity and Justice Working Group, BangladeshFortify RightsGonggam Human Rights Law FoundationHuman Rights Defenders and PromotersHuman Rights Working Group, IndonesiaIMA Research Foundation, BangladeshInstitute on Statelessness and InclusionInternational Council of Voluntary AgenciesInternational Movement of Catholic Students Asia PacificInternational Refugee Rights InitiativeISDE BangladeshJakarta Legal Aid InstituteJesuit Refugee Service Asia PacificKnights for Peace, InternationalLaw Life Culture, BangladeshLawyers for Human Rights and Legal AidLight House, BangladeshMAP Foundation, ThailandMercy MalaysiaMigrant Working Group, ThailandMigration Working Group, MalaysiaMigrante InternationalMinority Rights Organization, CambodiaNepal Institute of Development StudiesNorwegian Refugee CouncilOccupational Opportunities for Refugees & Asylum Seekers, AustraliaOverseas Services to Survivors of Torture and TraumaOvibashi Karmi Unnayan Program, BangladeshOxfam AustraliaOxfam Great BritainOxfam InternationalParticipatory Research Action Network, BangladeshProdipan BangladeshRefugee Council of AustraliaRefugee Rights Network PakistanResource Integration Centre, BangladeshRights Jessore, BangladeshSame Skies, Indonesia Save the ChildrenShikha Shatha Unnayan Kazakram, BangladeshSettlement Services InternationalSociety for Human Rights and Prisoners Aid, PakistanSt. John’s Cathedral HIV Education Centre, Hong KongSUAKA, Indonesia Civil Society Network for Refugee ProtectionSwahili Speaking Refugee Women Advocacy Services, AustraliaThai Commission for Refugees FoundationVietnamese Human Rights Defenders and ActivistsWhyDev, AustraliaWorld Vision International – Asia PacificYayasan Kelompok Kerja Sosial Perkotaan, IndonesiaYouth Advocacy Network South AsiaZo Indigenous Forum, India