Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
AP
—
Rescuers in Malaysia recovered the bodies of seven Myanmar migrants from a capsized boat carrying dozens of people and found 13 people alive, authorities said Sunday.
Vice Admiral Romli Mustapha of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency said preliminary investigations showed the ship left the town of Buthidaung in Myanmar’s Rakhine state with about 300 people on board.
Police and maritime authorities said the passengers appeared to have split into three small boats as the ship approached Malaysia. One of the boats is believed to have sunk near Koh Tarutao in southern Thailand on Thursday, and some of the victims drifted to the resort island of Langkawi in northern Malaysia, authorities said.
The exact time and location of the incident is unknown. The fate of the other two vessels is also unknown, officials said.
Local media quoted Asri Abu Shah, police chief in Malaysia’s northern state of Kedah, as saying that the rescued included Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, who have been persecuted for decades. Romli warned in a statement that cross-border syndicates are increasingly exploiting migrants using dangerous sea routes.
Maritime authorities said rescue teams found 10 migrants and recovered the body of a woman from the sea on Saturday. Six more bodies and three survivors were found on Sunday, the agency said, adding it would expand the search area continuing on Monday.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees called on local governments to step up search and rescue operations and take action to prevent such tragedies.
Some 5,200 Rohingya refugees have made perilous sea voyages so far this year, with nearly 600 reported missing or dead, said UNHCR spokesperson Diogo Alcantara.
In January, Malaysian authorities turned back two boats carrying nearly 300 Rohingya Muslims who were attempting to enter the country illegally. Malaysia is a popular travel destination due to its Malay Muslim majority.
Malaysia has taken in Rohingya in the past on humanitarian grounds, but has sought to limit the number of Rohingya due to fears of a large influx by boat. Approximately 117,670 Rohingya refugees are registered with UNHCR in Malaysia, representing approximately 59% of the country’s total refugee population.
