Arakan News Agency
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) did not detect any boatload of ethnic Rohingya which was allegedly making its way to Malaysia, said MMEA Northern Region director First Admiral Maritime Rozali Mohd Said.
He said the agency had beefed up patrols since late yesterday afternoon covering the Straits of Melaka and the Andaman Sea.
“MMEA has increased its patrols and surveillance once it received intelligence information over this matter. However, until today, there are no signs of such a boat entering the Malaysian waters,” he said in a statement here today.
Rozali said six MMEA assets involving two patrol vessels and four boats had been mobilised in the Northern Region round-the-clock to detect any illegal entry.
He also urged members of the public to channel any information on the matter to the agency via the 24-hour hotline, namely the MERS 999 or MMEA Northern Region Operations Centre in Langkawi.
Yesterday, Bernama reported on the discovery of a wooden boat carrying 56 Rohingyas in Koh Lanta near the Krabi province in southern Thailand at about 4 am (local time), allegedly heading to Malaysia.
Krabi governor Lt Col Kittobodee Prawit said local villagers found the boat and its occupants, all of whom were said to have sought temporary refuge in the idyllic island following a thunderstorm.
He said local authorities had distributed food, clothes and fuel to the Rohingyas before letting the boat and its passengers continue their journey to Malaysia.
The boat, according to Kittibodee, left Koh Lanta at about noon yesterday.
