Malaysia Could Send Rohingya Detainees Back Out to Sea: Sources

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The New York Times

By Reuters 

June 18, 2020

KUALA LUMPUR/BANGKOK — Malaysia is considering a plan to send nearly 300 Rohingya Muslim refugees detained after arriving on a damaged boat back out to sea once the ship has been fixed, two security sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Muslim-majority Malaysia has been a favoured destination for ethnic Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar and more recently, refugee camps in Bangladesh, in search of better prospects.

But Malaysia has said it will no longer accept Rohingya refugees after tightening border controls to rein in the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Malaysia Is Planning to Send a Boat Full of Rohingya Refugees Back Out to Sea

VICE
by Sammy Westfall
Jun 19 2020,

"Sending them back out to sea is just throwing them into a killing field."

A Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh. Photo courtesy of UK DFID.

Once their damaged boat is fixed, 269 Rohingya refugees now docked in Malaysia will be sent back out to sea if officials follow through with their current plan, sparking an outcry from rights groups.

Reuters, citing two security sources, reported on Thursday that Malaysia had previously asked Bangladesh to take back the refugees, who have been detained since their June 8 arrival, but Bangladeshi officials rejected the request. The sources said authorities have drawn up plans to push the refugees back out with food and water, but “no decision has been made yet.”

Rohingya boat people being held for ransom at sea

Reuters
June 15, 2020

Malaysia has said it will not accept Rohingya refugees after tightening its borders due to Covid-19. (MMEA pic)

DHAKA: Rohingya refugees attempting to reach Malaysia by boat from Bangladesh are being held hostage by human traffickers who have demanded large ransoms from their relatives with threats of violence, according to several families and aid organisations.

About a dozen Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh told Thomson Reuters Foundation they had received phone calls from traffickers demanding money to stop relatives from being abandoned at sea and, in some cases, raped or killed.

Bangladesh has no obligation to take Rohingyas: FM

Bangladesh Post
By Diplomatic Correspondent
Jun.09, 2020

 Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday asserted that under no circumstances Bangladesh was obligated to take Rohingyas in the country.

He made the comment when a reporter asked him about the Rohingyas detained in Malaysia on Tuesday.

There have been reports that Malaysia is planning to push them to Bangladesh which has given shelter to over 1.1 million Myanmar nationals fled ethnic cleansing in the Rakhine State.

Ismail Sabri: Foreign Ministry will contact UNHCR about Rohingya refugees

malaymail 

Tuesday, 09 Jun 2020
BY SOO WERN JUN

Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said since the Malaysian government has decided not to accept the Rohingya refugees in Malaysia, the Foreign Ministry will contact the UNHCR to determine if other signatory countries of the Refugee Convention will accept them. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 — The federal government will discuss with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) about the recent arrivals of Rohingya refugees in Langkawi, Kedah, said Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said since the Malaysian government has decided not to accept the Rohingya refugees in Malaysia, the Foreign Ministry will contact the UNHCR to determine if other signatory countries of the Refugee Convention will accept them.