Malaysian authorities have arrested more than 200 ethnic Rohingya. Five children were also being part of them. They intercepted a boat off the coast of Langkawi’s northwest island.
The Malaysian maritime compliance agency said in a statement. From one of the luxury beach resorts on the island, there was the wooden vessel. On Sunday morning, it adrift just over a nautical mile (2.2 kilometers.
According to Reuters, Rohingya refugees were held at the lock-ups of the organization on the mainland. It consisted of the group of 152 men, 45 women, and five children.
Kedah and Perlis Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency official Captain Zulinda Ramly said in the statement. “Immigration Department will hand over the refugees for entering the country illegally.”
Malaysia, which is not a signatory to the UN Convention on Refugees, is a preferred destination for Rohingya fleeing Myanmar. The violence persists in the western state to Rakhine. In addition, a squalid conditions in Bangladesh’s refugee camps where hundreds of millions now live.
Amnesty International on Monday cautioned that the humanitarian response to COVID-19 left older Rohingya refugees in the camps behind.
The rights group said that basic reliable information about the disease was not reaching people in the camps, particularly older refugees, and measures to prevent its spread.
According to UN estimates, there are still 860,000 people in the camps. It also consisted of refugees aged 60 or older. At least 15 Rohingya refugees drowned in February when a vessel carrying about 130 people capsized into the Bay of Bengal while attempting to enter Malaysia.
Since the boat was found on Sunday, the MMEA said it would also investigate allegations from the Rohingya. Three suspected members of a migrant smuggling syndicate who had escaped from the boat while still out at sea.
