According to police, dozens of wooden boats overloaded with Rohingyas and Bangladeshi migrants, have attempted to go to Thailand or Malaysia since October after the monsoon came to an end.
On December 14, a boat carrying 110 boatpeople - mostly Rohingya community - capsized in the Bay of Bengal, some of them died and some were missing.
Bangladesh authorities have deployed secret agents along the border to see any move by traffickers to get sea voyagers into the boats to attempt the risky journey to Malaysia, said an aide of BGB from Teknaf.
“However, many boats have avoided Bangladesh authorities and went to Thailand and Malaysia.”
There are over 28,000 registered refugees, who live in two official Nayapara and Kutupalong UN camps. But, there are about 200,000 to 300,000 "unofficial" refugees, according to government official.
Refugees, by utter frustration in the un-official camps, mostly they try to attempt the boat trip to Thailand or Malaysia. “We have no food, no education, and no health and even we have no security in the camp,” said a refugee preferring to be named said.
“The risky sea journey is better than the unpleasantness and starvation in the refugee camps in Bangladesh. Refugees know that the trip is like a suicide. But do we have any alternative?”
Bangladesh stopped an UN-managed program to help Rohingya refugees resettle in third countries last year.
“We went to Malaysia as we think that Malaysia is the best country for carving out a new life. The huge majority hopes to secure unregistered work as manual laborers on construction sites,” said another refugee leader.
“The boatpeople knew that their journey was risky such as--- the threat of capsize and drowning in the sea and the arrest of Thai authorities, if their boats go astray into Thai territorial waters. So, it is a big question that why do the Rohingyas go to Malaysia leaving their motherland?”
UN described that Rohingya community is one of the most persecuted minorities on earth.
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