BANGKOK — A ship carrying minority Rohingya migrants from Myanmar has capsized within the Bay of Bengal, leaving no less than 17 folks {dead} and about 30 lacking, a rescue official stated Thursday.
About 55 folks had been on the boat when it left Buthidaung township within the western state of Rakhine final weekend, stated Byar La, common secretary of Shwe Yaung Metta Basis.
Eight folks survived the weekend accident within the sea close to Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine, he stated. The boat was headed for Malaysia and the precise time and reason behind the capsizing had been unknown, he stated.
Byar La stated 17 our bodies, together with 10 girls, had been recovered alongside the shore in Sittwe, about 335 kilometers (210 miles) west of the nationwide capital, Naypyitaw, between Monday and Wednesday.
The eight survivors had been taken away by Myanmar’s safety forces, he stated.
Members of rescue groups and the authorities had been persevering with to seek for the lacking folks, he stated.
Rakhine state Legal professional Basic Hla Thein stated our bodies had been discovered on the shore since Monday however the precise quantity and different particulars weren’t but identified.
“I solely heard that the boat had left illegally and capsized within the Bay of Bengal,” Hla Thein stated by telephone.
Rohingya, a Muslim minority, have lengthy been persecuted in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Greater than 700,000 have fled from Myanmar to refugee camps in Bangladesh since August 2017, when the navy launched a clearance operation towards the minority in response to assaults by a insurgent group.
Myanmar’s navy has rejected accusations that safety forces dedicated mass rapes and killings and burned hundreds of properties within the clearance marketing campaign. The U.S. authorities has labeled the navy’s actions as genocide.
Greater than 100,000 Rohingya stay in Myanmar, confined to squalid displacement camps, along with these residing in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.
Teams of Rohingya from camps in each international locations have launched into hazardous voyages to the Muslim-majority international locations of Malaysia and Indonesia to hunt higher residing circumstances.
Myanmar has denied citizenship to most Rohingya. They’re additionally denied freedom of motion and different rights together with training. Authorities in Myanmar say the Rohingya migrated illegally from Bangladesh, though a lot of their households have lived in Myanmar for many years.
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