Boat people found stranded in Rakhine

YANGON: More than 60 people were found stranded near a boat in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, an official said on Monday, as a trafficking route for persecuted Rohingya Muslims appears open for business despite a crackdown.

Each year thousands of Rohingya and stateless Bangladeshis try to reach Malaysia or Indonesia by sea. But boatloads commonly wash up on the shores of Myanmar or Thailand, especially in the treacherous conditions brought by the monsoon season.

Sixty-three "Muslims" were found early Sunday and taken to a nearby police outpost, district administrator Soe Aung told AFP from northern Rakhine’s Maungdaw township. "We found four men on the boat and the rest nearby. In total there were 63 people," he said by phone, adding it was not yet clear if they were Bangladeshi or Rohingya. Myanmar officials do not recognise the Rohingya as an ethnic group and refer to them as Bengalis or Muslims from Rakhine state.