KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s coast guard stated on Friday (Jan 3) it was doubling patrols in its waters to identify boats carrying undocumented Burmese migrants after almost 200 have been detained on an island within the northwestern Malaysian state of Kedah.
The coast guard stated police arrested 196 undocumented Burmese migrants within the early hours of Friday after their boat washed up on a seaside on the vacationer island of Langkawi.
“Based on data obtained from the coast guard, there are two different boats carrying undocumented Burmese migrants at sea, however their precise location remains to be unknown,” the coast guard stated in an announcement.
Malaysian Coast Guard director basic Mohd Rosli Abdullah stated authorities have been patrolling northern waters off Langkawi and border areas and had organized aerial surveillance to find the boats.
The coast guard can be in touch with Thai authorities to establish the motion of boats carrying migrants, Mohd Rosli stated.
Last Friday, native English newspaper The Star reported that round 200 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar had landed in Langkawi. The Rohingya are a predominantly Muslim minority in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.
The coast guard didn’t specify in its assertion whether or not the migrants have been Rohingya.
