Reuters International
Nov 8, 2018
By Ruma Paul and Poppy McPherson
YANGON/COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) – Dozens of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and Bangladesh have boarded boats to try to reach Malaysia, officials and aid workers said on Thursday, raising fears of a fresh wave of such dangerous voyages after a 2015 crackdown on people smugglers.
One boat attempted to set sail from the southern coast of Bangladesh on Wednesday, the coast guard said, while several vessels left Rakhine state in western Myanmar, according to Rohingya leaders, aid workers and a monitoring group.
Officials detained 33 Rohingya and six Bangladeshis aboard a fishing boat bound for Malaysia in the southeastern part of the Bay of Bengal, said Foyezul Islam Mondol, the head of the coast guard in southeastern Teknaf upazila.
Six Bangladeshis were also arrested, he said.
A Myanmar government spokesman could not be reached for comment. Kyaw Swar Tun, deputy director of the Rakhine state government, said he was unaware of any boats leaving.
More than 700,000 Rohingya, members of a persecuted Muslim minority, fled Rakhine following an army-led crackdown in August last year, settling in sprawling Bangladeshi refugee camps, according to U.N. agency figures, while hundreds of thousands remain inside the country in internal displacement camps and villages.
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This handout photo released and taken by the Royal Thai Army on April 1, 2018 shows a wooden boat carrying Rohingya refugees being guided by Royal Thai Navy personnel (seen standing in dark outfit on the bow) as it sails towards Thailand-Malaysia sea boundary escorted by Thai Navy boat (not in picture).
A boat carrying dozens of Rohingya refugees trying to reach Malaysia briefly stopped on a Thai island, an official said April 1, as fears grow about overcrowded camps for the stateless minority fleeing violence in Myanmar.
/ AFP PHOTO / ROYAL THAI ARMY / Handout / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY CREDIT “AFP PHOTO / ROYAL THAI ARMY” – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS
Categories: Asia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Myanmar
