Southeast Asia migrant crisis: Malaysia and Indonesia agree to accept migrants stranded at sea

A boat carrying 350 Rohingya men, women and children has been rescued by fishermen after it went missing for more than 60 hours in the Andaman Sea.

The wooden fishing boat was spotted adrift after it was turned away by Malaysian authorities. The boat's captain and crew abandoned them without food and water.

Thai authorities said they had repaired the engine and provided basic food, water and medicine before towing the vessel into international waters towards Indonesia's Aceh province.

The migrants said they were starving but were grateful to Thai authorities for delivering food and water to them. They alleged that Malaysian authorities threatened to shoot at them, according to human rights organisation the Arakan Project.

The development came as Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed to stop turning away migrant boats and pledged to provide temporary shelter to Rohingya refugees.

After a meeting with his Indonesian counterpart, Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman told reporters that the two countries vowed to give the estimated 8,000 migrants stranded at sea temporary shelter "provided that the resettlement and repatriation process will be done in one year by the international community".

"The towing and the shooing away of boats is not going to happen," he said, according to AFP.

"What we have clearly stated is that we will take in only those people in the high sea. But under no circumstances would we be expected to take each one of them if there is an influx of others."

The stricken boat became emblematic of the Southeast Asian migrant crisis after international reporters, including Thomas Fuller of the New York Times, approached the vessel in the Andaman Sea.

According to reports, Rohingya pleaded desperately crying: "Please help us! I have no water! Please give me water!". Pictures showed Rohingya jumping overboard to collect food supplies dropped by a Thai army helicopter into the Andaman sea.

Nearly 3,000 migrants have been brought ashore or rescued off the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Aid workers have warned that up to 8,000 more migrants may be stranded in the Andaman Sea with nowhere to go and limited supplies of water and food.