(Bangkok) Fifty-nine Rohingya, including five children, believed to have been abandoned by traffickers en route to Malaysia have been found on a Thai island, a police officer said on Sunday.
Posted at 10:13 a.m.
The group was discovered on Saturday on the island of Koh Dong in the southern province of Satun, Lt. Gen. Surachet Hakpan said.
Every year, thousands of Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim minority, heavily persecuted in Burma (Myanmar), a predominantly Buddhist country, risk their lives on costly journeys lasting several months to reach Malaysia by crossing the seas of Thailand.
The police indicated that they had been charged with illegal entry into the territory and that they could be deported to Burma (Myanmar) following legal proceedings.
“We are providing humanitarian aid and we will investigate whether they are victims of human trafficking or whether they entered illegally,” said Surachet.
The group appeared “starved and had probably not eaten anything for three to five days”, according to a police statement.
Members of the group told officers that their boat was one of three boats carrying 178 people that left Burma (Myanmar) and Bangladesh, after paying an officer about 5,000 ringgit (1,500 CAD) for the trip.
The first two boats carrying 119 people were detained by Malaysian authorities, according to the Thai police statement.
The boat’s crew then decided to abandon those on board on Koh Dong Island, telling them they had reached Malaysia, the group told police.
The incident comes after the bodies of 14 Rohingya, including children, were discovered last month washed up on a beach after trying to flee Burma.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled a military crackdown there in 2017, bringing with them harrowing stories of murder, rape and arson.
Malaysia, with a Muslim majority, is a key destination for Rohingya fleeing persecution in Burma (Myanmar) or refugee camps in Bangladesh.