The number of migrants leaving Myanmar and Bangladesh by boat in the past four months has plummeted because of Thai and Bangladeshi crackdowns on human smugglers, the United Nations and a rights activist said on Friday.
Thai police launched a sweeping campaign against smuggling gangs in May following the discovery of 30 bodies in graves near a human-trafficking camp close to the Malaysian border.
The police operation led to traffickers abandoning 4,000 migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh at sea, sparking a chaotic round of "maritime ping-pong" as Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai navies pushed migrant boats away from their shores.