Arakan News Agency
Malaysian authorities announced that one person has died and dozens remain missing after a boat carrying about 90 migrants, mostly Rohingya, sank near the maritime border between Thailand and Malaysia. Rescue teams have managed to find 10 survivors, while searches continue for two other boats believed to have been carrying a similar number of passengers.
According to the Malaysian Maritime Authority, the incident occurred near Tarutao Island, north of the popular tourist island Langkawi. Local police chief Adzli Abu Shah said the boat capsized while attempting to cross the sea, confirming that search and rescue operations are still ongoing in the area.
He added that among the rescued survivors were three Myanmar nationals, two Rohingya refugees, and one Bangladeshi man, while the recovered body was that of a Rohingya woman.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the migrants had initially boarded a large vessel believed to have carried about 300 migrants in total before being instructed to transfer onto three smaller boats near the border to avoid detection by Malaysian authorities. This left them vulnerable to rough sea conditions, leading to the tragedy.
According to a report by Al Jazeera from Kuala Lumpur, the migrants departed about three days ago from a coastal area in Myanmar, and most of them are believed to belong to the Rohingya Muslim minority, who are fleeing persecution in their homeland.
The Andaman Sea route is a common path for migrants escaping from Myanmar, traveling along the Thai coast toward Malaysia, where many hope to start a new life or reunite with relatives already living there.
This incident highlights the dire situation of the Rohingya, who continue to risk their lives in perilous sea journeys. Similar tragedies have occurred in recent months, including the deaths of around 427 Rohingya who drowned in two separate accidents off the coast of Myanmar last May, in what the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) described as “the deadliest incident of its kind.”
Other incidents include the March sinking off the coast of Teknaf, where a boat carrying 50 people capsized—Bangladeshi border guards, assisted by local fishermen, rescued 25 survivors—and the death of 73 Rohingya refugees who drowned in the Bay of Bengal as their boat was heading to Thailand. Additionally, dozens of Rohingya died last November when their boat overturned off western Myanmar.
