More Rohingya Boats could Leave for Malaysia as Genocide in Myanmar Continues
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| The Rohingya that stopped at the Thai island of 'Koh Lanta' on Saturday (Assadawuth Suden/Associated Press) |
RB News
April 3, 2018
Akyab
(Sittwe)/Cox's Bazaar -- More Rohingya boats are likely to leave for Malaysia
before monsoon as the Genocide against them continues in Myanmar and their
situation in Bangladesh also remains extremely miserable.
On March 24,
2018, one Rohingya boat left from 'Thae Chaung' beach of Akyab (Sittwe) with
about 56 people on board. After one week of sailing across the sea, on Saturday
(Mar 31), the boat reached to Thailand and stopped at one of its island, 'Koh
Lanta' island, as it had been hit by a storm. The Thai authorities pushed it
back to the sea after giving them temporary shelter, according to reports.
"There were
more than 100 people preparing to leave by the boat. But the Police followed
them when they were going to the ‘Thae Choung’ beach to catch the boat. So,
they got dispersed and only 56 people managed to get on the boat, and the rest
were left behind," said a local Rohingya in Akyab (Sittwe).
"There are
more boats likely to leave. But the securities are very tight as of now,"
he added.
Meanwhile, sources say that many
Rohingya boats are also likely to leave from Bangladesh. About 700,000
Rohingyas have left their homelands in Myanmar since August 2017 to escape from
the Genocide being carried out by the Myanmar Military and Security Forces.
"Many boats with Rohingya genocide survivors could leave from
Bangladesh soon. But the securities in the south-eastern parts of Bangladesh
are very tight as patrolling by the BGB and the Coast-Guards have been very
high since last year.
"So, they
could choose alternative exit points. And those exit points could be from Cox's
Bazaar up to Chittagong," said Nazmul Hassan, a Rohingya activist in Cox's
Bazaar.
According to AP
Report, Malaysian authorities said Monday that they have stepped up patrols to
intercept the boat that the Thailand set adrift to the sea on Sunday.
[Reported by
Saed Arakani & Sabit Hamid; Edited by M.S. Anwar]
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editor@rohingyablogger.com to send your reports and feedback.
