Rohingya arrived by boat in Thailand

bangkok - Tens of Rohingya refugees arrived by boat in Thailand on Sunday, where they were stranded after a storm. According to local authorities, it is the first time in more than a year that Rohingya is visiting Thailand. Human rights organizations fear that more will cross the dangerous crossing, because of crowded camps in Bangladesh.

The boat with 56 Rohingya was on the way to Malaysia according to the Thai police. On the island of Lanta they got food and water, after which the refugees went back to the sea. According to humanitarian organizations, more refugees have made the crossing.

Almost 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar since last August. After attacks by Rohingya insurgents, security forces had been violently repelled in the state of Rakhine. The Muslim minority ended up in miserable conditions in camps in the neighboring country of Bangladesh. There is a great shortage of food and clean drinking water.