Sharjah 24 – AFP: Fifty-nine Rohingya people have been discovered on a Thai island, saying they were abandoned by traffickers en route to Malaysia, a senior police officer said Sunday.
The group -- among them five children -- were found on Koh Dong island in the southern Satun province on Saturday, said lieutenant general Surachet Hakpan.
Each year, thousands of the mostly Muslim minority Rohingya people, heavily persecuted in Myanmar, risk their lives in months-long expensive journeys to reach Malaysia over Thailand's seas.
Police said they had been charged with illegal entry and could face deportation to Myanmar following a court case.
"We are providing humanitarian assistance and will investigate whether they are victims of human trafficking or if they entered illegally," Surachet said.
The group appeared "starving and was likely to have had no food for three to five days", a police statement said.
Group members told officers their boat was among three vessels carrying 178 people that had left Myanmar and Bangladesh, having paid an agent around 5,000 ringgit ($1,300) for the journey .
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