At least 21 Rohingya refugees were dead and dozens remained missing after a boat carrying members of Myanmar’s persecuted Muslim minority sank near the Thailand-Malaysia border late last week, Malaysian officials said.
Thirteen survivors have so far been rescued, while the bodies of 12 victims were recovered in Malaysian waters and nine more were found in neighbouring Thailand, according to the regional head of Malaysia’s maritime agency, Romli Mustafa.
Search operations are ongoing in rough seas around Langkawi Island, covering nearly 170 square nautical miles.
Without life jackets, it’s difficult for many to survive even 24 hours, Mr Romli said, adding that rescuers believe some passengers may still be clinging to floating debris. “Weather conditions are not so friendly, but anyhow, we’re trying our level best,” he said.
Myanmar’s impoverished Rakhine state has endured years of conflict, deprivation, and ethnic violence, much of it directed against the Rohingya Muslim minority. Following a brutal military crackdown in 2017, around 1.3 million Rohingya were forced to flee and now live as refugees in neighbouring Bangladesh.
Hundreds of Rohingya refugees set out for Malaysia about two weeks ago aboard a large vessel before being moved onto two smaller boats last Thursday, according to Khairul Azhar Nuruddin, the police chief of Langkawi Island, where rescue operations are based.
The smaller boat, carrying roughly 70 people, sank near Langkawi the same day, while the second vessel, believed to be carrying about 230 passengers, remains missing, Malaysian authorities said.
Among the missing is 29-year-old Mohammed Ibrahim, who left Bangladesh for Malaysia without informing his family.
“He left for Malaysia without telling anyone,” he told Reuters from the refugee camps in Bangladesh.
“If I had known, I would never have let him go. He has a wife, three children – a three-year-old son and 10-month-old twin girls. Who will take care of them?”
Driven from their homes by persecution and violence, more than 1.3 million Rohingya refugees now live in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh. Many risk dangerous sea journeys to reach Malaysia, a Muslim-majority nation that does not recognise refugee status but is seen as offering better prospects for work and safety.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, over 5,100 Rohingya refugees have attempted similar voyages from Myanmar and Bangladesh this year alone, with nearly 600 reported dead or missing.
Rohingya Muslims are seen in the majority Buddhist Myanmar as foreign interlopers from South Asia, who are denied citizenship and face widespread abuse from both the state and largely non-Muslims ethnic militias.
“People are desperate,” Naser Khan, a Rohingya refugee in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, said. “People are dying in the fighting, dying from hunger. So some think it’s better to die at sea than to die slowly here.”
Authorities in Malaysia said survivors have been detained pending immigration investigations, even as rescue efforts continue amid fading hopes of finding more alive.
Amnesty International’s Myanmar Researcher Joe Freeman said: “This latest tragedy at sea in Southeast Asia once again lays bare the deadly risks faced by Rohingya Muslims who attempt to flee conflict and persecution in Myanmar, plus deteriorating conditions in refugee camps in Bangladesh.
“Those who were aboard a boat that sank off the coast of Malaysia had left a rapidly worsening situation both at home in Rakhine State and in overcrowded and underfunded camps over the border in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
“In Myanmar, Rohingya civilians face food shortages, forced labour, arbitrary detention, and restrictions on movement while they remain trapped in a conflict between the Myanmar junta and the Arakan Army that has driven more Rohingya into camps in Bangladesh.
“Meanwhile, US funding cuts have led to shortages in shelter, education services and aid in the Bangladesh camps, putting additional strain on communities and further compelling people to seek the dangerous option of fleeing by boat.
“The Malaysian and Thai governments must coordinate comprehensive search and rescue missions for survivors of this tragedy and provide them with humanitarian assistance and protection from forcible return to Myanmar.”
He added: “The unconscionable practice of pushing boats away from borders must end, and regional governments must ensure that any boats carrying refugees and migrants are allowed to land safely in the nearest country. ASEAN leaders must act decisively to address the long-standing issue of Rohingya boats at sea, as well as the ongoing conflict in Myanmar.”
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