Rohingya people are seen detained in a police station after a fishing boat carrying more than sixty Rohingya refugees was found beached at Rawi island

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai authorities have charged the captain and crew of a boat carrying 65 Rohingya Muslims with assisting illegal immigration after the group was found stranded on a southern Thai island, police said on Wednesday.

The 29 men, 31 women and five children were discovered on Rawi island in Satun province where their boat had beached due to engine trouble, police said on Tuesday.

The crew - five Myanmar nationals and the Thai captain - were charged with assisting foreign nationals to enter the country illegally, an offence that can carry a prison term of up to 10 years.

"We have charged the Thai and Myanmar suspects with assisting illegal entry for migrants," Police General Suchart Thirasawat told Reuters.

The Rohingya are being cared for while authorities try to determine if they are victims of human trafficking, he said.

"We have not pressed charges against the Rohingya passengers and are still working to determine whether they are victims or not," Suchart said.

Many Rohingya Muslims have boarded boats in recent months to try to reach Malaysia, part of what authorities fear could be a new wave of people smuggling by sea after a 2015 crackdown on trafficking.

"Based on what we know so far, these Rohingya are from the border area between Myanmar and Bangladesh and they were traveling to Malaysia," said Jaruwat Kliangklao, governor of Satun province.

Myanmar regards the Rohingya as illegal migrants from the Indian subcontinent and has confined tens of thousands to sprawling camps in Rakhine state segregated from the Buddhist Rakhine population since violence swept the area in 2012.

The unrest prompted tens of thousands of Rohingya to flee Myanmar by sea, an exodus that peaked in 2015 when an estimated 25,000 people crossed the Andaman Sea for Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, many drowning in unsafe and overloaded boats.

More than 700,000 Rohingya fled into Bangladesh in 2017 after a crackdown by the Myanmar's army, according to U.N. agencies. </s> Malaysia has arrested more than a dozen members of an alleged people smuggling syndicate after intercepting a ship carrying 127 Sri Lankan migrants believed to be bound for Australia and New Zealand, authorities said.

Maritime authorities on Tuesday halted a modified tanker named “Etra” in Malaysian territorial waters off southern Johor state, national police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun said.

Nearly 100 Sri Lankan men, 24 women and nine children were aboard the ship, which was making its way to international waters when it was stopped.

The police chief said in a statement on Saturday that authorities arrested 16 people involved in an “international network” of people smugglers, including three Indonesians and four Malaysians aboard a fishing vessel used to transport the migrants from the Johor coast to the tanker.

Another four Malaysians were arrested in the nearby state capital of Johor Baharu, while a fifth was taken into custody in northern Penang state.

Four Sri Lankan men were arrested aboard the tanker for suspected involvement in the trafficking network.

Mohamad Fuzi said the remaining 127 passengers aboard the vessel had been detained for violating immigration laws, according to news reports which did not say where they were being held or if they had been allowed to disembark.

He said the international syndicate, which covered Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Malaysia, had been operating since the middle of last year.

It is relatively rare for people-smuggling boats seeking to take people to Australia to be stopped off Malaysia. Boats typically bypass Malaysia and head to neighbouring Indonesia, the traditional staging post on the route to Australia.

Over the years, many such vessels have been stopped or have sunk off Indonesia.

This flow has largely stopped in recent years however after Australia introduced tough policies in 2013 of turning back boats when it is safe to do so, an approach that angered Jakarta.

In 2015 some boats carrying Rohingya, a stateless Muslim minority from mostly Buddhist Myanmar, arrived in Malaysia after Thai authorities clamped down on regional trafficking networks and preventing them from coming ashore in Thailand.

A Rohingya boat arrival in northwest Malaysia last month was the first for some time, and came as fears mounted more might be set to take to the high seas after a military crackdown in Myanmar sent many members of the minority fleeing their homeland.

However experts have played down the potential for a mass exodus via the high seas, as stormy weather over upcoming months makes boat trips far more risky. </s> Bangkok [Thailand], Jun 12 (ANI): Around 65 ethnic Rohingya Muslim refugees were found stranded in southern Thailand, Thai officials said on Wednesday.

An official told Dawn that the refugees, including 28 men, 31 women and five children, were stranded on Rawi Island in Tarutao National Park in Thailand's southern Satun province after their boat suffered engine trouble.

Kanjanapan Kamhaeng, the chief of Tarutao National Marine Park, was also quoted as saying that the boat was found smashed onto a rocky shore. A preliminary check showed that the boat was carrying 65 Rohingya and several Thai and Myanmar citizens, he added.

He also stated that the Thai navy took the group away to be processed by immigration officials.

Meanwhile, Navy officer Commander Thanapong Sudrak told Dawn that Thai authorities are investigating whether the incident involved any case of human trafficking.

Rohingyas, who belong to the Rakhine state in Myanmar, have been facing extreme persecution by authorities and majority Buddhists. It has further prompted their flight over the years, many on rickety boats that are mostly pushed back into the open sea by countries, especially Thailand and Myanmar.

At present, nearly one million Rohingyas are forced to take shelter in Bangladesh after Myanmar's army, responding to attacks by an armed group, launched a brutal campaign against the Muslim minorities in the Rakhine state in 2017.

A Thai government official was further quoted as saying that the passengers of the wrecked boat will be transferred to the mainland.

"Everyone will be investigated in order to see whether they are victims of trafficking or illegal immigrants," the official said.

Myanmar regards Rohingya as illegal migrants from the Indian subcontinent and has confined tens of thousands to sprawling camps in Rakhine since violence swept the area in 2012.

The unrest prompted thousands of minorities to flee Myanmar by sea. The exodus peaked in 2015 when an estimated 25,000 people crossed the Andaman Sea for Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, many drowning in unsafe and overloaded boats. (ANI) </s> BANGKOK (REUTERS) - A fishing boat carrying more than 60 Rohingya Muslims was found beached on an island in southern Thailand on Tuesday (June 11), officials said.

The passengers - 28 men, 31 women and five children - were stranded on Rawi island in Tarutao National Park in Thailand's southern Satun province after the boat suffered engine trouble, a park official told Reuters.

Scores of Rohingya Muslims have boarded boats in recent months to try to reach Malaysia, part of what the authorities fear could be a new wave of people smuggling by sea after a 2015 crackdown on trafficking.

A Satun government official said the passengers would be transferred to the mainland.

"Everyone will be investigated in order to see whether they are victims of trafficking or illegal immigrants," said the official, who declined to be named.

More than 700,000 Rohingya crossed into Bangladesh in 2017 fleeing an army crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine state, according to UN agencies.

Myanmar regards Rohingya as illegal migrants from the Indian subcontinent and has confined tens of thousands to sprawling camps in Rakhine since violence swept the area in 2012.

The unrest prompted tens of thousands of Rohingya to flee Myanmar by sea. The exodus peaked in 2015, when an estimated 25,000 people crossed the Andaman Sea for Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, many drowning in unsafe and overloaded boats. </s> Rohingya women are seen on a beach after a fishing boat carrying more than sixty Rohingya refugees was found beached at Rawi island, part of Tarutao national park in province of Satun, Thailand, bordering with Malaysia, according to officials, June 11, 2019. Department of National Parks Wildlife and Plant Conservation/Handout via REUTERS

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A fishing boat carrying more than 60 Rohingya Muslims was found beached on an island in southern Thailand on Tuesday, officials said.

The passengers - 28 men, 31 women and five children - were stranded on Rawi island in Tarutao National Park in Thailand’s southern Satun province after the boat suffered engine trouble, a park official told Reuters.

Scores of Rohingya Muslims have boarded boats in recent months to try to reach Malaysia, part of what authorities fear could be a new wave of people smuggling by sea after a 2015 crackdown on trafficking.

A Satun government official said the passengers would be transferred to the mainland.

“Everyone will be investigated in order to see whether they are victims of trafficking or illegal immigrants,” said the official who declined to be named.

More than 700,000 Rohingya crossed into Bangladesh in 2017 fleeing an army crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, according to U.N. agencies.

Myanmar regards Rohingya as illegal migrants from the Indian subcontinent and has confined tens of thousands to sprawling camps in Rakhine since violence swept the area in 2012.

The unrest prompted tens of thousands of Rohingya to flee Myanmar by sea. The exodus peaked in 2015, when an estimated 25,000 people crossed the Andaman Sea for Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, many drowning in unsafe and overloaded boats. </s> (Hatha al-Youm | Iraq News )- A fishing boat carrying more than 60 Rohingya Muslims wasfound beached on an island in southern Thailand on Tuesday, officials said.The passengers – 28 men, 31 women and five children – werestranded on Rawi Island in Tarutao National Park in Thailand’s southern Satunprovince after the boat suffered engine trouble, a park official told Reuters.Scores of Rohingya Muslims have boarded boats in recentmonths to try to reach Malaysia, part of what authorities fear could be a newwave of people smuggling by sea after a 2015 crackdown on trafficking.A Satun government official said the passengers would betransferred to the mainland.“Everyone will be investigated in order to see whether theyare victims of trafficking or illegal immigrants,” said the official whodeclined to be named.More than 700,000 Rohingya crossed into Bangladesh in 2017fleeing an army crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, according to UN agencies.Myanmar regards Rohingya as illegal migrants from the Indiansubcontinent and has confined tens of thousands to sprawling camps in Rakhinesince violence swept the area in 2012.The unrest prompted tens of thousands of Rohingya to fleeMyanmar by sea. The exodus peaked in 2015, when an estimated 25,000 peoplecrossed the Andaman Sea for Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, many drowning inunsafe and overloaded boats. </s> A group of 65 Rohingya Muslims have been found on a shipwrecked boat off the coast of southern Thailand, Navy officials said Wednesday as authorities investigated whether they had been trafficked

Bangkok, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - APP - 12th Jun, 2019 ) :A group of 65 Rohingya Muslims have been found on a shipwrecked boat off the coast of southern Thailand, Navy officials said Wednesday as authorities investigated whether they had been trafficked.

The boat was discovered early Tuesday in the Tarutao Marine National Park in southern Thailand, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the border of Myanmar.

Some 740,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar since a brutal military crackdown in 2017 against the stateless minority in the Buddhist-majority country.

Most have escaped into overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh, while others have fallen prey to human trafficking rings as they seek better lives in Malaysia or Thailand.

A Thai Navy spokesman said there were 31 women and five children among the Rohingya on the shipwrecked boat.

One Thai man and five Burmese citizens were also in the group.

The men said they were fishing in the area and had no link to the Rohingyas.

The six men "were detained for questioning because of their suspicious behaviour," Thai Navy spokesman, vice admiral Khan Deeubol, said Wednesday.

A provincial official said the group was initially investigated for illegal entry but the probe had broadened.

"Authorities are not ruling out other issues such as human trafficking," an Internal Security Command (ISOC) source in Satun province told AFP.

Photos from the Thai Navy showed the group on a beach, some eating rice near the marooned ship.

Bangladeshi authorities have intercepted several suspected traffickers seeking to transport refugees from squalid camps in Cox's Bazaar, where nearly one million Rohingyas are living -- almost all refusing to go back to Myanmar out of fear for their safety and rights. </s> Yangon - A boatload of more than 100 Rohingya Muslims who fled a camp in Myanmar were found off the country’s south coast Friday after spending 15 days at sea in a failed attempt to reach Malaysia.

The group of 106 people were discovered floating in a wooden boat on the Andaman Sea just off the shore of Kyauktan township an hour south of Myanmar’s commercial capital of Yangon, police told AFP.

The Rohingya said their group included 23 children and that a girl had died “about nine days ago”.

“One girl died at sea... she had not eaten and had drank seawater,” said Eilia, 35, who added the boat had run out of petrol.

Others in the mostly male group said they were from various Rohingya camps in Sittwe, Rakhine state’s capital.

“We left 15 days ago and are going to Malaysia,” said a young Rohingya man, who was immediately barred from speaking to reporters by police.

The group was escorted by local Red Cross members and immigration officers to Kyauktan township in eight vans, with four armed police officers in each vehicle. Once in Kyauktan they were given shelter in a community hall. The stateless minority face widespread persecution in Myanmar, and more than 120,000 are forced to live in camps in Rakhine state after intercommunal violence erupted between them and ethnic Rakhine in 2012.

Housed under grim conditions, the Rohingya - who have been denied citizenship in Myanmar - have no freedom of movement and a lack of access to education and healthcare.

Eilia said they had left their camps because of the lack of food.

“The food rations they give us are not enough,” he said. “We were told we would get jobs and be able to eat if we went (to Malaysia).”

A camp leader from Sittwe confirmed that the group had departed two weeks earlier.

“They left 15 days ago trying to get to Malaysia,” Kyaw Tin told AFP. “They left secretly... We only found out when they had a problem, about three days ago.”

More than 720,000 Rohingya have fled Rakhine state for Bangladesh after a brutal crackdown by the Myanmar military in August 2017.

Those who fled to overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh brought with them accounts of rape, extrajudicial murders and arson perpetrated by the military.

The two governments signed a repatriation pact last year, which was due to begin on Thursday. Myanmar said they were ready to receive more than 2,200 Rohingya back to resettlement camps.

But none have taken up the offer, with many citing fears without guarantees of safety and citizenship.

UNHCR spokesperson Aoife McDonnell said “concrete progress” was needed for the stateless community to enjoy basic rights in Rakhine state.

“With the prospect of boat movements increasing following the end of the monsoon season, it is increasingly urgent for the authorities to take measures to address the root causes of displacement,” McDonnell said.

UN investigators have urged the International Criminal Court to open a case against Myanmar’s military for “genocide” against the Rohingya - a damning charge the army and government denies, insisting that the security clearances were justified to tamp down Rohingya terrorists. </s> BANGKOK — Thai officials said they discovered 65 ethnic Rohingya Muslim refugees on Tuesday who were shipwrecked and stranded in southern Thailand.

The chief of Tarutao National Marine Park, Kanjanapan Kamhaeng, said the boat carrying the Rohingya was found after several Thai and Myanmar citizens told park officials their ship had broken down. They initially denied they were transporting Rohingya.

Kanjanapan said the boat was found smashed onto a rocky shore and a preliminary check showed it was carrying 65 Rohingya and several Thai and Myanmar citizens who were identified by the Rohingya as in charge of operating the ship.

Kanjanapan said the Thai navy took the group away to be processed by immigration officials.

Navy officer Cmdr. Thanapong Sudrak said authorities will investigate whether the incident involved human trafficking.

Rohingya originate in Rakhine state in Myanmar, where they face extreme persecution by authorities and majority Buddhists, prompting their flight over the years, many on rickety boats that were sometimes pushed back into the open sea by countries such as Thailand.

Attacks by Myanmar's army in 2017 caused more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to overcrowded refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh and elsewhere for safety.
Immigration officials from Myanmar intercept a boat of Rohingya refugees 30 km (18.6 mi) off the coast of Yangon, and arrest all 106 passengers. The boat was en route to Malaysia, after setting off from Sittwe, Rakhine State, with human smugglers and Rohingyas fleeing persecution.