Rohingya Refugee Boat Death Toll Rises to 29

Search and rescue officers in Malaysia's Langkawi island found two more bodies on Wednesday (November 12) after a boat carrying members of Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority sank near the maritime border between Malaysia and Thailand, raising the death toll to 29.

The bodies found on Wednesday were both male and had been handed over to the authorities, according to a statement by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.

For years, many Rohingya have embarked on rickety wooden boats to try to reach neighbouring countries, including Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia as well as Thailand, bidding to flee persecution in Myanmar or overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Thirteen other survivors have been found in Malaysian waters since Saturday (November 8), Romli Mustafa, regional director at Malaysia's maritime agency, said on Monday (November 10).

(Reuters)