At least 11 people have died after a boat carrying Rohingya migrants sank near the Thailand-Malaysia border, officials said Monday. The capsized boat was believed to be carrying around 70 passengers.
Malaysian authorities confirmed seven fatalities, while Thai officials recovered four bodies, including two children. Thirteen survivors have been rescued so far, 11 of whom are Rohingya and two from Bangladesh. Meanwhile, the fate of another boat with 230 passengers remains unknown.
Authorities from both Malaysia and Thailand are deploying air and sea assets to search for survivors. Romli Mustafa, director of Malaysia’s maritime agency in Kedah and Perlis, said the search could continue for up to seven days. He added that the boat had left Myanmar near the Bangladesh border about two weeks ago, with some passengers later transferring to the vessel that sank.
The Rohingya, fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state and difficult conditions in refugee camps in Bangladesh, often undertake dangerous sea journeys to Malaysia and Indonesia. Since January, over 5,100 Rohingya attempted sea departures from Myanmar and Bangladesh, with nearly 600 reported dead or missing, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
Thai authorities confirmed that among the recovered bodies were two children, aged over 10 and 12, and two adults. Two of the women were identified as Rohingya through refugee cards. The ongoing tragedy highlights the continuing humanitarian crisis faced by the Rohingya community.
