Chittagong, Bangladesh: Nearly 200 people reached Indonesia's Sumatra Island on a wooden boat on January 7, after drifting for a few days. They were found in Indonesian waters, by local fishermen, according to sources from Indonesia.

There were around 174 Burmese nationals and 19 Bangladeshi nationals on board, the source said.

According to local Navy Commander Yanuar Handwiyono, 79 people are being treated for dehydration in two separate hospitals in Sabang town.

Aceh Police spokesman Farid Ahmad said, "The people were believed to be en route to Malaysia 'to seek a better life'."

The police have referred the boat passengers' case to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and to the local immigration authorities, he said.

"It is very difficult to establish the origin of the people and their destination because they do not speak any Indonesian. All those on the boat were men and none of them speak Indonesian or English," Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said.

According to sources, many people from the Rohingya community wish to go to Malaysia and want an end to the political persecution from the authorities of Burma. Human traffickers lure them with dreams so that they can help their family from Malaysia.

Towards the end of last year, the British "The Guardian" newspaper mentioned, "More than 300 people believed to be illegal migrants and mostly Bangladeshis were feared to have drowned. The accident took place off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal on December 28, as the victims jumped into the sea and tried to swim ashore."

"Most of the boats which go on the deadly route in the sea are small, old and the engines are not good enough to reach their destination. They usually lose their way and drift for some way before meeting their death," said the watchdog group from Bangladesh.