Malaysia Crackdown
Considered stateless in Burma, the Rohingya often seek a better life in prosperous Muslim Malaysia
In Burma, the Rohingya are considered stateless with few rights. Their circumstances have prompted many to seek a better life in prosperous Muslim Malaysia. Most slip into Bangladesh, where people smugglers organize their passage for about £200. Boats packed with migrants set off during October and April, when the seas are calmer. Middlemen in Thailand pay off immigration authorities then take the travelers by land to Malaysia. Thailand turned a blind eye to the traffic, as the Rohingya never planned to stay. But last March the then prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, announced a crackdown on the Rohingya. In December, the new policy of pushing boats out to sea seemed to take effect. The Thai navy intercepts the migrants and hands them to the army, but it seems the army detains them and uses its own boats to push migrants out to sea. By the end of 2005, the UN refugee agency recorded 13,000 Rohingya in Malaysia. Up to 7,000 are estimated to have slipped into the country since, bringing the total to about 20,000.
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