Seventeen Burmese and three Bangladeshis died at sea from hunger and lack of drinking water on board the boat, but 71 were rescued by the Sri Lankan Navy after their boat began to sink.
Despite the apparent dangers, traffickers are still taking migrants and refugees to Malaysia on board small machine boats from the Burma and Bangladesh border areas.
About 60 Burmese and Bangladeshis left on Saturday for Malaysia from an island located at the mouth of the Naff River between Burma and Bangladesh, said an intelligence source.
Bangladesh authorities went to the island to arrest the people when the received a tip-off, but they had already left the island for Malaysia in a machine boat.
"I think the boat people did not know what happened to the previous travelers to Malaysia at sea after their boat engine failed," a trader from the border said.
"Now everybody in the border area is aware of the tragedy of the boat people who died while traveling to Malaysia, but I hold no hope that it will be stopped in the future. I've already heard some Muslim youths from western Burma have arrived at the Bangladesh border to leave for Malaysia by machine boat," the trader said.
