Malaysian authorities have allowed 40 migrants from Myanmar into the country just two weeks after their vessel sank in the Bay of Bengal, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Wednesday.
Despite an appeal by the UNHCR, Singapore refused to let the migrants into their country after they were rescued by a Vietnamese cargo when the vessel sank on December 5.
Violence recently erupted between the Buddhist majority and the Muslim minority in the northwest of Myanmar’s Rakhine state. The Rohingyas, the Muslims from the Northwest of Myanmar have left Myanmar in rickety boats bound for the Southeast of Asia in search of a better future. However, it is still not clear of the rescued migrants are the Rohingyas.
“Prior to their rescue, survivors of the initial boat sinking had spent many hours in the waters of the Bay of Bengal. It is still unclear how many people died in this incident,” the UNHCR said in a statement.
A Malaysian government official confirmed that the boat people were safely in the country but gave no further details.
