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MALAYSIA-MYANMAR-BANGLADESH-REFUGEE-MIGRATION
Second group of Rohingya arrive in Malaysia within weeks
KUALA LUMPUR, April 8, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Forty-one Rohingya were found on a
Malaysian beach Monday, police said, the second group of the Muslim minority
to arrive in the country within weeks, stoking fears of a looming exodus.
Many Rohingya have been seeking in recent weeks to leave by sea from
Bangladesh, where they live in squalid refugee camps after fleeing their
mostly Buddhist homeland Myanmar, before the monsoon season starts in
earnest.
Security forces have prevented hundreds from departing for Malaysia with
people smugglers on fishing boats. But last month 34 Rohingya arrived in the
northern Malaysian state of Perlis, the first group believed to have landed
in the country in almost year.
The latest batch, which consisted entirely of men, were found Monday on the
same beach as the previous boatload, local police chief Noor Mushar Mohamad
told AFP.
“This is definitely the work of human smuggling syndicates working with
local syndicates,” he said.
“I fear there could be more Rohingya arrivals unless maritime enforcement
agencies step up patrols urgently.”
Noor Mushar said initial investigations indicated they could have travelled
in a large boat before being transferred to smaller craft by local criminal
gangs and ferried ashore. They have been handed over to immigration
authorities, he said.
It was not clear whether they had departed from Bangladesh or Myanmar, or
when they had arrived.
About 740,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar for Bangladesh following a brutal
military clampdown in their home country in August 2017, joining hundreds of
thousands already living in crowded camps.
The traditional route to Malaysia is by boat from Myanmar or Bangladesh.
Refugees arrive either in Thailand and head overland to Malaysia, or arrive
directly in Malaysia.
But arrivals have fallen markedly since 2015 when Thailand launched a
crackdown, which disrupted the lucrative trade and led to smugglers
abandoning huge numbers of refugees at sea.
Relatively affluent, Muslim-majority Malaysia has long been a favourite
destination for Rohingya, where they are a source of labour in low-paying
industries such as agriculture and construction.
BSS/AFP/RY/1556 hrs