A security source told AFP on Saturday that the traffickers abandoned more than 80 Rohingya who were trying to escape on boats to Malaysia in southeast Burma.
The Rohingya Muslims in the state of Rakhine in West Burma are undocumented residents of the nation with a Buddhist majority; they have been treated unfairly and denied access to nationality, healthcare, and education.
This group, which includes women and children, was apprehended by the authorities on Friday in the town of Thuanwazat in the state of Moon, according to a security source who requested anonymity for AFP.
He continued, adding that the smugglers had constructed them to transport them to Malaysia, “They were hiding near rubber farms after departing the boats that took them from the state of Rakhine.”
Malaysia, which has a mainly Muslim population, is a popular destination for Rohingya refugees.
The accident is under investigation, however it is unclear if the group would be charged with a crime before being allowed to leave Rakhine State.
Personnel from the Rohingya minority who break immigration restrictions may be sentenced to two years in prison in Burma.
The anti-trafficking unit of Rangon and Nepidao declined to comment on the situation.
The security source said that there are also reports indicating that a navy ship in Burma found 120 Rohingya people on a boat near the town of Modon in the state of Moon.
Following several reports of murders, deliberate burnings, and rape, a military suppression campaign in Burma in 2017 pushed over 750,000 Rohingya to flee from Rakhine State to Bangladesh.
Amnesty International compares the “apartheid” that exists in Rakhine State to their living circumstances.
After mass migration, Burma faces accusations of genocide before the United Nations Supreme Court.
Since the general-led coup in February of last year, which resulted in the deaths of more than 2,400 citizens, pandemonium has reigned in the Southeast Asian nation, according to a local surveillance organisation.
After attempting to flee, more than 80 Rohingya were imprisoned in Burma.
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