The death toll from the sinking of a boat carrying members of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority climbed to 27 on Tuesday, as a survivor recalled a harrowing journey that left him floating for days in the Andaman Sea.
"I saw one person die. They drowned," Iman Sharif told reporters shortly after he was rescued on Tuesday and taken into custody by Malaysian authorities.
Iman said he was aboard a large boat for eight days before being transferred to a smaller one with around 70 people. But the vessel sank shortly after and he clung on to wreckage for days before washing up on a Malaysian island.
Malaysian and Thai authorities have widened a search for dozens of people still missing in the waters near the border between the two countries.
Nine bodies were recovered on Tuesday, including one in Thailand, officials said.
For years, many Rohingya have embarked on rickety wooden boats to try to reach neighbouring countries, including Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia as well as Thailand, bidding to flee persecution in Myanmar or overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.
Thirteen other survivors have been found in Malaysian waters since Saturday and 12 bodies, Romli Mustafa, regional director at Malaysia’s maritime agency, said on Monday.
Romli earlier said his counterparts in Thailand had found nine bodies, though a Thai official in Satun province later told Reuters that six had been recovered.
Buddhist-majority Myanmar denies abuses against the Rohingya in Rakhine State in the country’s west, but claims the minority are not citizens but illegal immigrants from South Asia.
Iman said he was from Rakhine, where violent clashes between a powerful ethnic army and the country’s ruling junta have escalated in recent years, driving thousands of Rohingya towards other countries for safety.
Malaysian authorities have said about 300 people boarded a vessel bound for Malaysia two weeks ago, and were transferred onto two boats on Thursday. The smaller boat sank, while the fate of around 230 people onboard the other vessel remained unclear, officials said.
Malaysian authorities are expected to continue search operations until Saturday, while a Thai rescue worker said on Tuesday that teams will widen their coverage around Koh Tarutao, where most of the bodies were found.
More than 5,300 Rohingya boarded boats to leave Myanmar and Bangladesh between January and early November of this year, and more than 600 of them have been reported dead or missing, the United Nations Refugee Agency and the International Organisation of Migration said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
The two organisations offered their support to local authorities to assist the survivors and called for greater international cooperation to achieve a political solution to the crisis and end hostilities in Myanmar.
"Until the drivers of onward movement and the root causes of forced displacement in Myanmar are resolved, refugees will continue to undertake dangerous journeys in search of safety," they said.
The frequent arrival of Rohingya on boats operated by people smugglers has been a source of frustration for the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN, with Malaysia and Indonesia in particular criticising Myanmar for the way it treats the minority.
Malaysia, which does not recognise refugee status, has in recent years begun to turn away boats and detain Rohingya as part of a crackdown on undocumented migrants.
(Reporting by Mandy Leong in Langkawi, Devjyot Ghosal and Panarat Thepgumpanat in Bangkok; Writing by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by David Stanway and Kim Coghill)
