Boat with 400 Rohingyas returns to Teknaf after drifting 2 months at sea
Around 28 Rohingyas have died of starvation
A boat carrying more than 400 Rohingyas returned to the Teknaf coast on Wednesday after it was refused entry to Malaysia. It had drifted for almost 55 days on the sea. Twenty eight Rohingyas on board died of starvation during this time.
Confirming the matter, Lt Colonel Sohel Rana of the Teknaf Coast Guard Station, said, "We detained around 300 Rohingyas after the boat anchored in Teknaf's Jahajpur area."
Local union parishad member Humayun Chowdhury said many Rohingyas had fled after reaching the coast.
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The rescued Rohingyas, who are from Kutupalong, Balukhali, Thaingkhali, Nayapara, Shyamlapur camps, started for Malaysia 55 days ago from Teknaf's Nayakhalighat area with the help of human traffickers in the camps. The boat reached the Malaysian border after three days.
After the Malaysian police chased them off, the boat remained adrift at sea, leaving 442 passengers in severe trouble, especially more than 250 women and children. Twenty eight of them died of starvation. Later, they had to come back to Bangladesh.
Baharchara Police Inspector Liyakat Ali said, "We have not yet counted how many Rohingyas there were in the boat. At present, we are considering their humanitarian needs. We will find out their details later."
