Photo credit: Jakarta Globe
Malaysian authorities announced Saturday that they turned away two boats carrying 300 people believed to be Muslim Rohingya refugees who were found to have entered the country illegally.
Jakarta globe.ID reports the Malaysian Enforcement Agency saying it had information that two more boats were attempting to enter the country after a boatload of 196 Rohingya landed early Friday on a boat, and they were all detained by authorities.
The agency said authorities had detected the other two boats later Friday off Langkawi. It said the people on the two boats, also believed to be Rohingya, were reported to be exhausted and lacked sufficient food and water supplies.
The Head of Maritime Enforcement Agency Mohamad Rosti Abdullah said that the two boats had received assistance, including food supplies and drinking water, before they were escorted out of the country to continue their journey. His statement didn’t reveal where the boats were heading.
No details were given about where the boats came from. However, many Rohingya living in refugee camps in Bangladesh have been lured by traffickers to leave to seek a better life elsewhere.
Bangladesh hosts over 1 million Rohingya refugees who fled ethnic and religious violence in Myanmar. Malaysia is a popular destination because of its dominant Malay Muslim population.
While Malaysia has accepted Rohingya in the past on humanitarian grounds, the country has tried to limit numbers because of fears of a massive influx of people arriving on boats.
As of the end of November, there were around 111,410 Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers registered with the UN High Commission for Refugees in Malaysia. This makes up about 58 percent of the total refugee population in Malaysia.
