Myanmar stops boat carrying 106 Rohingya off Yangon

By Kyaw Ye Lynn

YANGON

Myanmar authority has intercepted a boat carrying more than 100 Rohingya Muslims, who left the country’s western Rakhine state, off the Yangon coast on Friday.

A total of 106 people including 25 children aboard have been detained after the boat was stopped by police and immigration officials near a village in Yangon’s Kyauk Tan Township, according to Zaw Moe Lwin, a lawmaker representing the area.

He said: "According to their [Rohingya] testimony, they are from Narzi camp in the Rakhine state capital Sittwe."

“And they said they are going to Malaysia where they hope to get a better life,” he added.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).

More than 34,000 Rohingya were also thrown into fires, while over 114,000 others were beaten, said the OIDA report, titled "Forced Migration of Rohingya: The Untold Experience."

Some 18,000 Rohingya women and girls were raped by Myanmar’s army and police and over 115,000 Rohingya homes were burned down and 113,000 others vandalized, it added.

According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly children, and women, fled Myanmar and crossed into neighboring Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017.

The UN has documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by Myanmar state forces. In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.