Southeast Asia urged to treat migrants better

Southeast Asian countries were urged on Tuesday to treat migrants landing on their shores humanely and avoid a repeat of this year's disaster in which hundreds of refugees were either lost at sea or died in jungle camps.

The International Organization for Migration called for "full cooperation" this week from governments that attended a Bangkok meeting in May aimed at tackling the region's annual migrant crisis as European countries struggle to cope with refugees fleeing war in Syria and Iraq.

Southeast Asian nations agreed to help vulnerable "boat people" stranded at sea, after last year's crisis in which more than 4,000 migrants landed in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh following a Thai crackdown on people-smuggling gangs.