Malaysia orders sea rescue as some Rohingya flee boats, return to camps

scores of Rohingya Muslims are paying off people smugglers and returning to the squalid camps they used to live in after being held for months on overcrowded ships that were to take them to Thailand but did not move far from shore. Often beaten, and given little food and water, at least 50 Rohingya came back over the weekend after paying boat captains between $200 and $300 per person, people in one of the camps said. A crackdown on the people-smuggling network in Thailand, usually the first stop en route to Malaysia, has meant that at least three ships loaded with hundreds of Rohingya and impoverished Bangladeshis were staying off the coast of Myanmar, they said. In the past three weeks, more than 3,000 people — Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar and Bangladeshis trying to escape poverty — have landed in overcrowded boats on the shores of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. After initially pushing many boats back, Malaysia and Indonesia announced on Wednesday that they will offer temporary shelter to all incoming migrants.

[Navy ordered] to conduct search and rescue efforts (for) Rohingya boats. We have to prevent loss of life.

Prime Minister Najib Razak on Twitter

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s prime minister said Thursday he has ordered the navy and the coast guard to comb the sea to look for stranded migrants, the first country to announce it will search for the refugees in desperate need of help instead of waiting for them to wash up on Southeast Asia’s shores. As the region’s migrant crisis enters its fourth week, it remains unclear how many vulnerable people are adrift at sea but aid groups and the UN say there could be thousands and time is running out to save them.

This is not an ASEAN problem. This is a problem for the international community.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman

Refugees malaysia Asia-Pacific