| Summary/Abstract |
According to the United Nations, the current worldwide displacement is at the highest level ever recorded. Further, the humanitarian crises unfolding in the Mediterranean and the Bay of Bengal have focused the spotlight on the maritime domain as a prominent escape route. They have also raised many questions pertaining to human security and the humanitarian obligations of the states at one end of the spectrum and national security considerations that come with such mass arrivals on the other. However, the two crises have elicited varying responses by the affected state and non-state actors, who have interpreted international law and state obligations differently. This paper seeks to understand and analyse maritime and policy responses to the Syrians in the Mediterranean and the Rohingyas in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea to identify the best practices for states to comply with their international humanitarian obligations while taking state security imperatives into consideration.
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