Three dead, 25 missing while going to Malaysia

File photo of Rohingya boat people fleeing Myanmar

By KPN

September 18, 2014

Sittwe, Burma: Three boat-people including one man and two women were dead while going to Malaysia from Sittwe (Akyab) by boat after sinking at the sea on September 11, at about 9:00 pm, said Shaker, one of the boat people from Sittwe.

“There were about 38 Rohingya boat-people including man, women and children were leaving Malaysia by boat from Ohn Taw Gyi IDP camp of Sittwe, Arkan, the capital of Arakan State.”

Suddenly, a group of Hluntin (riot police) arrived to the spot and fired 12 rounds of bullet to air to stop the boat. As a result, the boat-people were terrified and jumped into water and tried to escape from the arrest of Hluntin. However, among them a man and two women were dead because of boat sinking and 25 boat-people are still missing and 10 others could reach to the bank after swimming. But, they were arrested by Hluntin and sent to No.1 police station of Sittwe. The concerned authorities have been looking for the missing passengers.

The three dead bodies were taken to Sittwe General Hospital for postmortem and then the dead bodies were sent to Baw Du Pha cemetery where they were buried at about 2:30 pm, on September 12, said a local elder, on condition of anonymity.

According to UNHCR, there are more than 24,000 Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia today

Nearly 140,000 mostly Rohingya residents are displaced in Burma following inter-communal clashes between Rohingya and Rakhine residents. Most of the displaced are staying in nine overcrowded camps in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says more displacements are likely. “The situation is still very, very volatile, it’s very tense. The government is doing it very best to keep the situation under control, but it’s still very fragile,” said Jens Laerke, an OCHA spokesman.

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