Kaladan News
December 30, 2008
Boatpeople missing in Bay of Bengal after Thai authorities deny entry
Chittagong, Bangladesh: More than 300-boat people, going to Malaysia to escape persecution of the Burmese authorities and seeking jobs from Bangladesh, are missing in the Bay of Bengal near India's Andaman Islands, after Thai authorities refused them entry and pushed them back to the sea, according to sources from Thailand and India.
"More than 300 people believed to be illegal migrants and mostly Bangladeshis were feared to have drowned. The mishap took place off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal on December 28 as the victims jumped into the sea and tried to swim ashore," the Britain based "The Guardian" newspaper said yesterday.
"The men were mostly Bangladeshis and some Burmese nationals, aged between 18 and 60. Setting sail for Malaysia, where they were promised jobs, in six boats 45 days ago, they would-be migrants soon became lost and drifted through the Bay of Bengal," said authorities in Port Blair.
Thai navy personnel, who were patrolling the coastline of their territory, stopped the boats with boat people who tried to land on coast as they were out of gas and food. They were sent back to the sea by Thai authorities in their engine boat. The Thai Navy personnel took the responsibility of catching the boat people, although they did not intend to end their journey in Thailand, and were on their way to Malaysia, said a source, who is working in Thailand and compiling a report on the boat people.
This is the boat the refugees arrived in Similan Islands, Thailand
The Thai Navy deported 180 boatpeople with food and gas on their boats to the sea and the navy again caught 108 boatpeople near Kuraburi yesterday, the source said.
According to our source from Arakan, many from among the Rohingya community wish to go Malaysia and want an end to political persecution from the authorities. The human traffickers lure them with dreams where they can help their family from Malaysia. The traffickers ask for around 30,000 to 40,000 Kyats first and the remaining is paid after working in Malaysia.
Boat which are going to Malaysia, berthing in Teknaf.
The traffickers organize people from the villages and bring them from Arakan to the Bangladesh border. At a point, they leave from Bangladesh to Malaysia on engine boats which are small and over loaded with people, dry foods and water which is not enough for them for their journey, said a watchdog group of boatpeople from Bangladesh.
Recently, more than 200 Rohingya boatpeople were caught near Bassin town of Irrawady delta area, where they lost their boat in bad weather. On December 23, they were sent to Arakan after investigation in Rangoon and released when they reached the towns of Buthidaung and Maungdaw, Arakan through the Village peace and Development Council (VPDC) officials, said a close aide of the Township peace and Development Council (TPDC).
Departure point of boatpeople at Sharpurdip
In Bangladesh, some traffickers organize Bangladeshi people for providing jobs overseas (Malaysia) through the deadly sea route asking for less money than by air. Poor rural people want to go overseas for their families' survival, the watchdog group added.
When the Thai navy intercepted the boat people, the Thai authorities had put them on a pontoon tied to a ship to deport them. But they quietly released the cable and the pontoon started drifting, seven died while the group drifted between Thailand and the Andaman Island and their bodies were dumped at sea, after drifting for 10-15 days when finally they saw a lighthouse, nearly 300 jumped into the water one after another,' said authorities in Port Blair quoting survivors.
Mohammad Ismail Arafat, one of the survivors, "I and others had paid a Bangladeshi agent for promised jobs in Malaysia."
The coastguard found the vessel with 88 men still on board about 40 miles off Hut Bay, near Little Andaman island, about 90 km (55 miles) south of Port Blair on December 28, and another 11 men were found on the nearby Sandy Point island, said SP Sharma, commander of the coast guard for the Andaman region, putting the number of survivors at 102 while two more bodies were found yesterday.
Indian authorities still hope to find survivors, officials said.
"We are looking for them in all possible places near the south of Little Andaman as we think there could be more survivors and two Indian navy ships have joined coastguard vessels searching for the missing men," the Andamans defence spokesman, Mannu Virk, said in Port Blair.
In Dhaka, the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) reports: The foreign adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said, "Bangladesh had sent letters to embassies of India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka for taking initiatives to rescue the victims while issuing a general appeal to other neighboring countries for any possible support in this regard."
'We are seeking more details on the reported incident,' said Chowdhury, who is also in charge of the ministry of expatriates' welfare and overseas employment, also expressing his deep shock at the deaths. ##
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