Philippines offers shelter to BD migrants at sea

Philippines is the first country who offered shelter after its south-east Asian neighbours blocked them from entering, report agencies.
Manila, a signatory to the United Nation's refugee convention, said it would help as it denied a local report claiming that the Philippines planned to push back boats carrying some 8,000 people fleeing persecution in Burma and poverty in Bangladesh.
It would be a long and unlikely journey for the migrants - who are believed to be in the region of the Andaman Sea - to make it to the Philippines on their rickety boats with little food and fuel.
However, the statement raised hopes for a breakthrough in the crisis.