Malaysia Steps Up Search for Missing Rohingya Boats as Death Toll Climbs to 21

Photo: NDTV

Arakan Now | 11 November 2025

Malaysian patrols searched coastal waters in the Andaman Sea on Monday (Nov 10) for dozens of members of Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya minority after a boat believed to be carrying them sank last week and another went missing.

At least 21 bodies have been recovered since the vessel went down on Thursday — 12 in Malaysia and nine in neighbouring Thailand — regional head of Malaysia’s maritime agency, Romli Mustafa, told reporters.

Without life jackets, many may struggle to survive even 24 hours, though some could be clinging to floating objects, he said, adding that search operations would continue.

“Weather conditions are not so friendly, but we’re trying our level best,” Romli said. So far, 13 survivors have been rescued, he added.

Long persecuted in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, the predominantly Muslim Rohingya face escalating violence in their war-torn homeland and worsening conditions in overcrowded refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh, where 1.3 million of them live.

Hundreds of Rohingya reportedly boarded a vessel bound for Malaysia two weeks ago and were transferred onto two smaller boats on Thursday, said Khairul Azhar Nuruddin, police chief on Malaysia’s northern Langkawi island, from where search operations are ongoing across an area of 877 sq km.

The smaller vessel, carrying around 70 people, sank near Langkawi the same day. The fate of the second boat, which was carrying about 230 passengers, remains unclear, Malaysian authorities said.

Source: CNA