COMMENT I’m not an expert on the refugee boat crisis. I doubt many of us are.

Does it really take a expert to understand the most important facts of this crisis, though? That there are 800 men, women and children, afloat at sea, with little food or water, turned away from every shore.

Horror stories of violence erupting as the situation worsens, and equally horrific tales from past refugees who have survived these death boats should remind us of the urgency of solving the immediate problem.

Yes, there is a complex myriad of issues at play. Yes, the core of this issue is gross human rights abuses and ethnic cleansing in Myanmar. Yes, Asean, as a region, should work together to solve this problem...