More Burmese 'boat people' rescued after being cast out of Thailand

A Rohingya Muslim from Burma is taken to a hospital
after being rescued off the coast of Indonesia
Photograph: Stringer/indonesia/Reuters

Ian MacKinnon, south-east Asia correspondent
Guardian Co

Survivors say 22 migrants from Burma's Rohingya Muslim minority died at sea

Fishermen have rescued another 198 starving Burmese "boat people" after their vessel, which had no engine, was towed out to sea by Thai security forces and cast adrift, an Indonesian naval officer said today.

Survivors packed on board the fragile wooden boat, which was spotted drifting near Aceh, off the northern coast of Sumatra, said they had been in the open sea for about three weeks, during which 22 of the migrants from Burma's Rohingya Muslim minority had died.

Some of those on board – including a 13-year-old boy – were in a critical condition when they were discovered late yesterday. At least 56 were treated at Idirayeuk hospital for severe dehydration, while the rest were being cared for at the town's district office.

The Rohingya said they were part of a group of 1,000 migrants who had been working illegally in Thailand when they were detained last month, put into eight or nine boats and towed out to sea.

The latest incident isthe second case of a boatloadof Rohingya migrants to be picked up off Aceh in less than a month, allegedly after being cast adrift with little food and water by the Thai military. On 7 January 193 people were discovered near Indonesia's Sanbang island. Indonesia's foreign ministry insists they will be deported to Burma as they are economic migrants, despite their fears of persecution.

Others have washed up on India's Andaman islands , but more than 330 are missing, feared drowned.

Under intense international pressure, the Thai prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, promised to investigate the scandal. But he gave the task to the very unit accused of the abuses, the controversial Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc).

The vessel in which the latest migrants were discovered had been lashed together with rope. They had not eaten for a week and were so tightly packed that they only had room to stand.

"Fishermen found a wooden boat without an engine drifting in the sea with 198 Myanmar [Burmese] migrants," said the Indonesian navy officer Tedi Sutardi. "They said the Thai authorities towed them out to sea and set them adrift.

"Their boat was small. It's only 12m [40ft] long and 3m wide. It had almost come apart and was held together with ropes. They were standing in the boat for 21 days because there was no space to sit. It's a miracle they survived."

According to Sutardi, the survivors recounted beatings by the Thai security forces after their arrest for illegal entry.

The Rohingya – a stateless minority with few rights – say they left Burma to escape brutal treatment at the hands of the military junta.

Thousands cross into neighbouring Bangladesh during the dry season when seas are calmer. From there they board rickety boats in the hope of reaching Thailanden route to Muslim countries such as Malaysia or Indonesia, guided by people smugglers who charge up to £500 each.