Bangkok Post
1 Mar 2019 ,WRITER: AFP
Rohingya refugees, who landed on an isolated northern shore near the Malaysia-Thai border, huddle near Kangar on Friday, following their detention by Malaysian immigration authorities. (AFP Photo)
KUALA LUMPUR: Thirty-four Rohingya refugees were found on a beach in Malaysia on Friday, police said, the first of the Muslim minority group thought to have arrived in the country by sea for almost a year.
The discovery came just a day after Bangladesh told the UN Security Council that it could no longer accept any more Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.
About 740,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar for Bangladesh since a savage military crackdown in August 2017, joining about 200,000 others in what have become the world’s largest refugee camps.
Local police officer Nahar Jalaluddin told AFP the Rohingya were discovered on an isolated stretch of coast in the northern state of Perlis.
“They were tired, weak and hungry,” he said. “The refugees, who included men, women and children, are now in the custody of the immigration authorities.”
The official said he suspected they had been ferried into Malaysian waters from Thailand by people smugglers under cover of darkness, and dumped close to the shore.
The New Straits Times newspaper reported that villagers found the Rohingya on the shore covered with mud, and many were crying.
It is the first time since April 2018 that Malaysian authorities have found a group of Rohingya who made it to the country by sea.
It was not clear whether they had started their journey in Myanmar or in the refugee camps of Bangladesh.
Bangladeshi security forces have stopped repeated attempts by smugglers to transport Rohingya to Malaysia by boat. Authorities fear many are seeking to make the crossing before the start of the monsoon season at the end of March.
Relatively affluent, Muslim-majority Malaysia has long been a favourite destination for Rohingya, where they are a source of labour in low-paying industries such as agriculture and construction.
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