Death toll from capsized boat with Myanmar migrants climbs to 27 as more bodies recovered

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The death toll from a capsized boat carrying Rohingya migrants from Myanmar rose to 27 on Tuesday, after rescuers in Thailand and Malaysia recovered more bodies at sea.

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency said rescuers found another survivor and recovered eight more bodies on Tuesday off northern Langkawi island, close to the Thailand border. This brought its total to 20 deaths, comprising seven men, nine women and four children, plus 14 survivors, it said.

Thai media reports cited local officials in the southern Satun province as saying one more body of a man believed to be a Muslim Rohingya refugee was found Tuesday afternoon. The Romsai Rescue Foundation in the province had earlier announced that six bodies were found in Thai waters on Sunday and Monday.

Malaysian authorities have said an estimated 70 people were on board the capsized boat, based on survivors’ accounts.

Officials said a larger vessel carrying some 300 people had departed from the town of Buthidaung, in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. The passengers were believed to have been split into three smaller boats once the vessel neared Malaysia. One of the boats was believed to have sunk near Tarutao island in southern Thailand on Thursday.

The timing and exact location of the incident is not known. The fate of the other two boats is also unclear, officials said.

In a joint statement, the U.N. refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration voiced concern over the scale of potential loss of life. They called for more resources and stronger regional and international efforts to enhance search-and-rescue capacity and safe access to asylum to avoid such tragedies.

So far this year, 5,300 Rohingya refugees — who have faced persecution for decades in Myanmar — have embarked on dangerous maritime journeys from Bangladesh and Myanmar, with over 600 reported to be missing or dead, they said. Deteriorating conditions in Bangladesh’s refugee camps and a deepening conflict in Myanmar sparked by a 2021 military takeover are forcing more people, especially women and children, to risk their lives at sea, they added.

Malaysia is a popular destination for Rohingya seeking to enter illegally because of its dominant Malay Muslim population.

Malaysia has accepted Rohingya in the past on humanitarian grounds but has tried to limit their numbers, fearing a mass influx of people arriving on boats. In January, Malaysian authorities turned away two boats carrying nearly 300 people believed to be Rohingya refugees.

There are around 117,670 Rohingya registered with the U.N.’s refugee agency in Malaysia — about 59% of the total refugee population in the country.