ISTANBUL

Malaysia ended a nine-day search and rescue operation on Monday after confirming at least 29 deaths from a Rohingya migrant boat that capsized near the maritime border between Malaysia and Thailand.

Malaysia’s state-run news agency, Bernama, said the operation, which began on Nov. 9 for the boat that overturned on Nov. 6, was called off after authorities covered 1,745.88 nautical square miles of sea.

The rescue effort ended at 6.30 pm (1030GMT) Monday after a final assessment produced no new leads, according to Zainudin Mohd Zuki, deputy operations director of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency in Kedah and Perlis.

"As of noon on Monday, a total of 43 victims have been found, comprising 14 survivors (12 men and two women) and 29 deceased (15 men, nine women, two boys, and three girls)," he said.

More than 300 personnel were deployed during the operation. Zainudin said the search could resume if new information emerges about the remaining missing people.

The group of migrants had reportedly departed Myanmar on a large vessel carrying about 300 people. Passengers were later transferred to three smaller boats, one of which capsized. The status of the other two remains unknown.

The Rohingya, a mostly Muslim minority in Myanmar, face abuse, discrimination, and statelessness, and frequently attempt dangerous sea crossings to flee hardship.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled Myanmar since 2017 due to violent crackdowns by the military and armed groups. More than 1.3 million have sought refuge in Bangladesh, with some reaching Indonesia and Malaysia after perilous sea journeys.

However, ethnic clashes have exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, which has been engulfed in civil war since the military coup in February 2021.