At least 11 people have been confirmed dead after a boat carrying members of Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority capsized near the Thailand-Malaysia border, authorities said on Monday.
About 70 people were believed to have been on board the ill-fated vessel, while dozens more remain missing.
Malaysian authorities reported recovering seven bodies, while their Thai counterparts retrieved four more, including two children. Thirteen survivors, mostly Rohingya, were rescued, but the fate of another boat carrying some 230 passengers remains unclear, officials said.
Malaysia’s Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) confirmed that joint air and sea search operations were ongoing around the island of Langkawi, close to where the tragedy occurred.
“We have strong coordination and information exchange with the Thai agency,” said Romli Mustafa, MMEA director for the Kedah and Perlis regions. “Air assets are being used to support our sea operations, and the search may continue for up to seven days.”
Romli added that the vessel had departed from Myanmar’s border region with Bangladesh about two weeks ago. Some passengers reportedly transferred to another boat last Thursday before the incident. Of the survivors, 11 are Rohingya and two are Bangladeshi nationals.
The Rohingya, long persecuted in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, have faced years of violence, displacement, and deprivation. Following a 2017 military crackdown described by the United Nations as ethnic cleansing, about 1.3 million Rohingya now live in overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.
Many risk their lives each year attempting dangerous sea crossings to Malaysia and Indonesia in search of safety and better living conditions.
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than 5,100 Rohingya have undertaken such perilous sea journeys from Myanmar and Bangladesh between January and early November 2025.
Nearly 600 have been reported dead or missing during this period.
A Thai maritime enforcement official told Reuters that among the recovered bodies were two women carrying refugee cards identifying them as Rohingya. The children found were aged about 10 and 12.
The latest disaster underscores the growing desperation of the Rohingya community as regional governments struggle to curb human trafficking networks and provide long-term solutions to one of Southeast Asia’s most protracted refugee crises.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
