Myanmar acknowledged Monday that the international community had "concerns" about waves of boat people fleeing its shores, but insisted it should not be solely blamed for the regional migrant crisis.
Information Minister Ye Htut said his country understood "the concerns (of) the international community on the people in the sea".
"Instead of blaming Myanmar for all these problems... all these issues should be solved by the regional partners," he added in English following a briefing between government officials and diplomats in Yangon.
Tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims, a minority who face daily prejudice and a raft of restrictions in western Myanmar, have long fled in rickety boats across the Bay of Bengal.
In recent years they have been joined by growing numbers of economic migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh looking to escape grinding poverty.
Myanmar's part in the grim and often deadly exodus had been largely ignored by its neighbours.
But the former army-run nation has faced growing international pressure this month after thousands of migrants were abandoned in overcrowded boats by people smugglers following a crackdown on the trade in Thailand, a key transit point.
Thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshis, many emaciated and exhausted, have since landed on Malaysian and Indonesian shores while others crammed into vessels have been turned back to sea -- sparking international outrage.
Myanmar has balked at such criticism and has yet to confirm whether it will attend a regional summit on the migrant crisis organised by Thailand.
Authorities in Myanmar deny that the country's 1.3 million Rohingya exist as a minority group on its soil and maintain they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.