Hundreds of migrants missing as boat sinks off near Malaysia-Thailand border

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 (KUNA) -- Malaysian authorities announced on Sunday that hundreds of people were missing after a boat carrying migrants from Myanmar sank near the Malaysia-Thailand border in a tragic incident that left seven survivors rescued and one body recovered.
The police chief of Malaysia's border state of Kedah, Azli Abu Shah, said in a press statement that he had directed units to intensify patrols in the waters around Langkawi Island and other border areas, particularly in the Teluk Ewa area to search for possible survivors who might still be stranded at sea or washed ashore.
Abu Shah explained that the incident began when a commercial vessel spotted three Rohingya individuals floating on the sea surface. They were rescued and handed over to the police. The survivors said they had boarded a main vessel in Myanmar carrying about 300 people, which had been at sea for nearly a month before sinking four days ago as it neared Malaysian waters.
He added that the police, in cooperation with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, the Royal Malaysian Navy, and the Marine Police, launched a large-scale search and rescue operation that managed to locate three additional survivors, including a Bangladeshi man and the body of a Rohingya woman.
He noted that the Bangladeshi man is suspected of being involved in organizing or piloting the boat, and investigations are ongoing to determine his role and identify the networks responsible for the incident.
He said preliminary investigations revealed the involvement of human trafficking networks charging large sums of money per person to smuggle them into Malaysia, adding that "some survivors sold their property and livestock to pay those amounts." He further explained that some testimonies indicated that the migrants were divided into three smaller boats during the journey to avoid detection by authorities, and that one of those boats capsized near the maritime border while the fate of the other two remains unknown.
Abu Shah confirmed that all survivors were detained for investigation under Section (6/1/c) of the Immigration Act of 1959/1963 for not possessing valid travel documents, while the woman's body was transferred to a hospital on Langkawi Island for an autopsy.
This incident is among the largest irregular migration tragedies in northern Malaysia this year and reflects the continuing attempts by members of the Muslim Rohingya minority to flee Myanmar, where they face systematic persecution. Malaysia remains a main destination for them due to the presence of large refugee communities and available job opportunities. (end) aab.onm