Rohingya refugees tell Malaysia how dozens perished during four-month voyage

Survivors from a ship full of over 300 Rohingya Muslim refugees advised Malaysian authorities that dozens of their folks perished and their our bodies had been thrown within the sea throughout a tortuous four-month voyage.

The head of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) described the ordeal suffered by Rohingya whose broken boat had made land on the Malaysian island of Langkawi on June 8, with 269 folks aboard.

More than 300 Rohingya had been transferred to this boat from a bigger “motherboat” half-way by a voyage that started near the Myanmar-Bangladesh border again in February, MMEA Director General Mohd Zubil Bin Mat Som advised a information convention on Wednesday.

“But some died at sea. They were thrown overboard,” he mentioned, later telling Reuters that those who perished had fallen sick, with out elaborating additional.

The destiny of near 500 Rohingya who had remained on “Motherboat 1” after the switch at sea was unknown as authorities have been unable to trace the vessel’s location, he mentioned.

The Rohingya had risked the perilous sea journey having misplaced hope of constructing a greater life within the refugee camps in Bangladesh, the place many had discovered sanctuary after fleeing their properties in Myanmar following a navy crackdown in 2017.

Mainly Muslim Malaysia is dwelling to the second largest variety of Rohingya refugees after Bangladesh.

But in latest weeks, the Southeast Asian nation has turned away no less than two boats and detained lots of of Rohingya and undocumented migrants, amid heightened public anger in the direction of foreigners who’ve been accused of spreading the coronavirus and burdening state sources.

Mohd Zubil mentioned the Rohingya survivors, who’ve since been detained, had paid traffickers about 2,500 ringgit ($585) up entrance for the voyage, with a pledge to pay a further 11,000-13,000 ringgit as soon as they discovered jobs in Malaysia.

Most of them had been girls promised for marriage to Rohingya males in Malaysia, he mentioned.

Mohd Zubil declined to touch upon whether or not a call had been made to push the detainees again out to sea as soon as their boat is repaired, a reported proposal that has been criticised by human rights teams.