BANGKOK (AP) — Greater than 150 Rohingya have been rescued off the coast of Myanmar after their boat began taking over water, Myanmar’s navy mentioned.
Myanmar’s state-run Oil and Pure Fuel Company despatched two boats from an offshore operation to rescue the 154 folks — 106 males and 48 females — after recognizing their boat in bother, the navy mentioned in a press release Thursday.
It was not clear whether or not the vessel was the identical boat carrying Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh that had been reported to be in bother earlier this week within the waters of neighboring Thailand.
Thailand’s navy spokesman Vice Admiral Pokkrong Monthatphalin mentioned Friday that crews had been despatched to search for the boat within the Andaman Sea after it acquired the experiences, however had discovered nothing.
UNHCR, the United Nations’ Refugee Company, mentioned it didn’t have unbiased info on the boat reportedly experiencing engine troubles in Thai waters, however urged nations within the space to assist.
In a report earlier this month, UNHCR reported there had been a dramatic improve within the variety of folks trying to cross the Andaman Sea this 12 months.
Some 1,920 folks, primarily Rohingya, made the crossing from both Myanmar or Bangladesh from January to November 2022, in comparison with a complete of 287 in all of 2021.
Tons of of hundreds of Rohingya Muslims have fled from Buddhist-majority Myanmar to refugee camps in Bangladesh since August 2017, when the Myanmar navy launched operations in response to assaults by a insurgent group. Myanmar safety forces have been accused of mass rapes, killings and the burning of hundreds of Rohingya properties.
Teams of Rohingya have tried to depart the camps in Bangladesh by sea to hunt a greater life in different Muslim-majority nations within the area.
Malaysia has been a standard vacation spot for the boats though many Rohingya refugees who land there face detention. Others have sought refuge in Indonesia.
