Reuters, Kuala Lumpur :
Malaysia intercepted a boat carrying 56 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar off its northern island of Langkawi today and will allow them to enter on humanitarian grounds, with rights groups expecting further such perilous journeys by sea. The boat had stopped at an island in southern Thailand on Saturday after a storm, with officials there saying the refugees were heading to Malaysia. It had set sail from central Rakhine state
Malaysia intercepted a boat carrying 56 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar off its northern island of Langkawi today and will allow them to enter on humanitarian grounds, with rights groups expecting further such perilous journeys by sea. The boat had stopped at an island in southern Thailand on Saturday after a storm, with officials there saying the refugees were heading to Malaysia. It had set sail from central Rakhine state
in Myanmar, the U.N. refugee agency said. The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency said in a statement that the boat was carrying 19 men, 17 women and 20 children. It had since been escorted to the peninsula and its occupants handed over to immigration authorities for processing.
Malaysia’s standard policy has been to turn away refugee boats attempting to make landfall, unless weather conditions are bad, though thousands have managed to enter the country over the years.
