Bangladesh navy halts ship carrying hundreds of migrants

DHAKA

 Bangladesh’s navy on Monday intercepted a ship in the Bay of Bengal carrying hundreds of migr­ants being taken to Malaysia by people-smugglers, officers said.

Most of the would-be mig­rants were from Bangladesh, but some were thought to be from Myanmar, an officer said. “There are 500-600 people in the boat,” the officer said.

“Some 90 per cent of those aboard the boat are Bangladeshis and the rest are from Myanmar. The crew are all from Myanmar.” Thous­ands of poor Bangladeshi and ethnic Rohingya refugees from Myanmar try to migrate to Malaysia every year on a perilous and sometimes fatal 3,200-kilometre journey.

Rights groups say thousands have perished along the way, while thousands more have fallen into the hands of people-traffickers.

Bangladesh’s coastguard and border forces have launched crackdowns on economic migrants, confiscating their ships and arresting a number of human traffickers. Police said the boat was “heading to Malaysia illegally” and would be taken into shore.

Thousands of Rohingya have fled deadly communal unrest in Myanmar’s Rakhine state since 2012.

Myanmar views its population of roughly 800,000 Rohingya — described by the United Nations as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities — as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and denies them citizenship.

Around 300,000 Rohingya have over the years gone to live in Bangladesh, which recognises only a small portion as refugees and regularly turns back those trying to cross the border. Rights groups say the stateless migrants often fall into the hands of people-traffickers.

They have also criticised Thailand in the past for pushing boatloads of Rohingya entering Thai waters back out to sea and holding migrants in overcrowded facilities.