PHUKET : A group of 74 illegal Rohingya migrants fleeing Myanmar [Burma] landed on Koh Bon in Muang district yesterday.
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| This picture taken on December 30, 2012, shows Rohingya refugees from Burma in the custody of Malaysian security officials on Langkawi island. About 500 Rohingyas were forced to swim the last 500 meters to shore after a grueling 15-day boat journey. One person died in the sea, police said on January 1, 2013. (PHOTO: AFP) |
Most migrants looked exhausted, and had gone without food and water for at least two days.
They also found a double-decker wooden boat, about 1.5 metres wide and 10m long, moored in the area.
Arun Solos, mayor of tambon Rawai municipality, said he asked local police and immigration police to head to the island after the Rohingya were spotted heading for the area in tambon Rawai, about 3km from Rawai beach.
One migrant from the group said they had not planned to enter Thailand, but they became lost on the way to Malaysia and Indonesia.
Their boat and another vessel, also carrying Rohingya migrants, were hit by a storm, the migrant said.
The migrants requested food and fuel to continue their journey to Malaysia.
The Rawai municipality gave them food, drinking water and fuel before liaising with police, the Third Fleet and state agencies to ensure they would return to Myanmar, officials said.
This article first appeared in The Bangkok Post on January 2, 2013.
Related articles:
http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/8663-rohingya-boatpeople-reportedly-forced-to-swim-ashore-to-malaysia.html
http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/8520-bangladesh-deports-19-rohingyas-to-burma.html
