Chittagong, Bangladesh: The first batch of Arakanese Rohingya boat-people reached Malaysian territorial waters in the second week of March 2010, according to sources.
According to Malaysian authorities on Monday, they are probing claims that 93 Rohingya from Burma were chased out of Thai waters and drifted aboard a boat over one month before being rescued.
Malaysian authorities have found out about the status of the group after investigating. They are from Burma’s Rohingya Muslim minority, who were denied citizenship and property rights by Burmese authorities, leading to their abuse and exploitation and prompting many to flee the country, according to Malaysia authorities.
“The Rohingya said they were intercepted by the Thai Navy at sea. They were given food and later pushed out before they were rescued by our maritime officials,” the northern regional head of the Maritime Enforcement Agency, Zulkifli Abu Bakar said.
He said the immigration authorities needed two weeks to complete their investigation and have not yet obtained any response from the Thai authorities on the claims, but a navy spokesman in Thailand said there has been no report of the incident.
According to CNN website, Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongpakdi confirmed the Thai Navy did find a boat carrying refugees in international waters on March 4. “The boatpeople told the navy they were from Rakhine state in western Myanmar.”
Thongpakdi insisted the Thai Navy gave them food and water supplies and then "let them go on their way," because they'd told the navy they were heading to another country, the website stated.
Zulkifli also said according to their investigation, “The 93 Rohingya, all men from Arakan state in Burma, were in good health but reported that a man died during the arduous journey.”
“The group would now be handed on to the UN refugee agency,” said Zulkifli Abu Bakar. “We are not going to charge them in court.”
The UNHCR said it would seek access to the group to verify their status.
A report that came out this month by Physicians for Human Rights noted acute levels of malnutrition among a surging camp population.
An Arakanese Rohingya from Bangladesh border said, “We are persecuted and denied citizenship and equal rights by the Burmese ruling junta, but we cannot stay in Bangladesh for fear of arrest and being pushed back to Burma by Bangladesh authorities, so we leave our homeland to seek a better life through the death route.”
According to sources, some Arakanese Rohingyas are now preparing to go to Malaysia through the sea route.
