• Status of 2 more boats, carrying about 100 people each, unknown, say Malaysian police

ISTANBUL

A boat believed to be carrying nearly 100 undocumented migrants capsized off near the maritime border between Malaysia and Thailand, with six survivors found, Bernama News reported on Sunday.

Malaysia's Kedah police chief Adzli Abu Shah said the six people rescued included three Myanmar men, two Rohingya men, and one Bangladeshi man. In addition, the body of a deceased Rohingya woman was discovered floating at sea.

Shah said the group heading to Malaysia from Myanmar first boarded a large vessel carrying 300 people, but as they approached the border, they were ordered to switch to three smaller boats, each holding roughly 100 people, in order to evade detection by authorities.

"However, three days ago, the boat they were on capsized, and the incident is believed to have occurred in Thai waters before they drifted into Malaysian waters,” the police chief told reporters on Sunday.

He mentioned that the status of the other two boats was unknown, and a search-and-rescue operation was still underway.

The Rohingya, a mostly Muslim minority in Myanmar, face abuse, discrimination, and statelessness, often fleeing from Myanmar.

Myanmar has been in civil war since the 2021 military coup, amid internal ethnic clashes.