11 Dead, Several Missing After Migrant Boat Sinks Near Thai-Malaysia Border

At least 11 people have been confirmed dead after a boat carrying Rohingya migrants sank near the Thailand-Malaysia border, authorities said on Monday. Dozens remain missing, and another boat carrying around 230 passengers is yet to be located.

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) reported that the incident occurred near Langkawi Island over the weekend.

The capsized vessel is believed to have been carrying about 70 passengers. So far, 13 survivors, including 11 Rohingyas and two Bangladeshis, have been rescued.

Malaysian and Thai rescue teams have launched joint search operations by air and sea, covering an expanded area of 256 square nautical miles. According to Malaysia’s maritime agency, the search is expected to continue for up to seven days.

Romli Mustafa, who heads Malaysia’s maritime agency for Kedah and Perlis, said during a briefing in Langkawi that air assets have been deployed to assist ongoing searches.

He mentioned that the group left Myanmar near the Bangladesh border about two weeks ago, before some passengers were transferred to smaller boats, one of which later sank.

Authorities said the body recovered on Sunday was that of a Rohingya woman. Thai officials have since recovered four more bodies, including two children, bringing the total death toll to 11.

Officials believe the passengers were among a group of 300 Rohingyas who fled Myanmar’s Rakhine state, one of the country’s poorest regions, two weeks earlier.

The larger group reportedly divided into three smaller boats as they neared Malaysian waters. The fate of the remaining vessels remains unclear.

The Rohingyas, a Muslim minority community from Myanmar’s Rakhine state, have long faced persecution and are denied citizenship in the predominantly Buddhist country.

Since the military crackdown in 2017, hundreds of thousands have sought refuge in Bangladesh, where around 1.3 million now live in overcrowded camps.

Difficult living conditions, limited opportunities, and ongoing conflict in these camps have forced many Rohingyas to undertake dangerous sea journeys in search of better prospects in Malaysia and Indonesia. Officials said many pay more than $3,000 each to smugglers for these voyages.

These boats are often small, overcrowded, and lacking in basic facilities such as clean water and sanitation. Many of these boats never reach their destination. Some are stranded at sea for weeks, while others are detained or deported upon arrival.

Rescue operations are continuing, with authorities expressing concern that the number of casualties could rise as the search progresses in what is being described as one of the worst migrant boat incidents in the region this year.

References: BBC, theprint

Source: Maritime Shipping News