In the first three months of this year, some 25,000 people, mostly from the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority, left the Bay of Bengal by boat in search of a better life. Instead, they have suffered the most appalling treatment at the hands of ruthless smugglers and unsympathetic governments. At least 300 have died from “starvation, dehydration and beatings”, according to the UN. Between 6,000 and 20,000 are now adrift at sea, turned away from Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia in what one human rights campaigner likened to a sickening game of “human ping pong”. The situation is desperate. If action is not taken, dozens or possibly hundreds of people could die.

This is a tragedy in three acts. Many of the refugees bound for Malaysia are either from the western Rakhine state of Myanmar or from refugee camps in Bangladesh. The Rohingya, many who have been in Myanmar for generations, are effectively stateless. Ironically, as Myanmar’s military boot has lifted, anti-Rohingya sentiment has stiffened among the majority Buddhist population. The Rohingya, referred to dismissively as “Bengalis”, are popularly considered foreign interlopers with an alien religion and a high propensity to breed. In 2012, mobs killed at least 170 and drove some 140,000 into desperately ill-provisioned camps. As hope fades, the incentive to flee rises.

The second act is carried out by human traffickers. Many refugees are imprisoned in “ransom for release” camps in Thailand. Those who cannot pay may be beaten, raped or left to starve. Belatedly Thai authorities have cracked down after finding a mass grave in one of the camps. Smugglers, who can no longer store their human cargo in Thailand, have cut their boats loose at sea. Act three is what happens when those boats try to make landfall in Malaysia, Thailand or Indonesia. All three countries have pushed them away. In the short term, the focus should be on those in immediate peril. The three countries concerned must urgently mount rescue operations and bring the migrants safely to shore. Aid organisations can then take care of their pressing needs while a longer-term solution is found for those who can prove they are political refugees.