‘I saw a person die’: Rohingya survivor recalls days adrift after boat sinking off Malaysia’s coast

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - This file picture shows a boat carrying ethnic Rohingya migrants detained in Malaysian territorial waters, in Langkawi April 5, 2020. — Reuters pic

LANGKAWI, Nov 11 — The death toll from the sinking of a boat carrying members of Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority climbed to 27 today, as a survivor recalled a harrowing journey that left him floating for days in the Andaman Sea.

“I saw one person die. They drowned,” Iman Sharif told reporters shortly after he was rescued today and taken into custody by Malaysian authorities.

Iman said he was aboard a large boat for eight days before being transferred to a smaller one with around 70 people. But the vessel sank shortly after, and he clung on to wreckage for days before washing up on a Malaysian island.

Malaysian and Thai authorities have widened a search for dozens of people still missing in the waters near the border between the two countries.

Nine bodies were recovered today, including one in Thailand, officials said.

For years, many Rohingya have embarked on rickety wooden boats to try to reach neighbouring countries, including Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia as well as Thailand, bidding to flee persecution in Myanmar or overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Thirteen other survivors have been found in Malaysian waters since Saturday and 12 bodies, Romli Mustafa, regional director at Malaysia’s maritime agency, said yesterday.

Romli earlier said his counterparts in Thailand had found nine bodies, though a Thai official in Satun province later told Reuters that six had been recovered.

‘Holding on to survive’

Buddhist-majority Myanmar denies abuses against the Rohingya in Rakhine State in the country’s west, but claims the minority are not citizens but illegal immigrants from South Asia.

Iman said he was from Rakhine, where violent clashes between a powerful ethnic army and the country’s ruling junta have escalated in recent years, driving thousands of Rohingya towards other countries for safety.

Malaysian authorities have said about 300 people boarded a vessel bound for Malaysia two weeks ago and were transferred onto two boats on Thursday. The smaller boat sank, while the fate of around 230 people on board the other vessel remained unclear, officials said.

Malaysian authorities are expected to continue search operations until Saturday, while a Thai rescue worker said today that teams will widen their coverage around Koh Tarutao, where most of the bodies were found.

‘Regional action needed to address boat crisis’

More than 5,300 Rohingya boarded boats to leave Myanmar and Bangladesh between January and early November of this year, and more than 600 of them have been reported dead or missing, the United Nations Refugee Agency and the International Organization of Migration said in a joint statement today.

The two organisations offered their support to local authorities to assist the survivors and called for greater international cooperation to achieve a political solution to the crisis and end hostilities in Myanmar.

“Until the drivers of onward movement and the root causes of forced displacement in Myanmar are resolved, refugees will continue to undertake dangerous journeys in search of safety,” they said. — Reuters