Bangladesh rescues 30 Rohingya adrift for two days after pirate attack

The Bangladesh coastguard on Tuesday (Apr 27) rescued 30 Rohingya refugees adrift in the Bay of Bengal for two days after they were attacked by pirates, an official said.

About 1 million Rohingya refugees live in sprawling camps in southeast Bangladesh, having fled repression in Myanmar.

Many pay often-unscrupulous traffickers to put them on dangerous sea journeys to Southeast Asian countries – in this case Malaysia, home to a sizable Rohingya diaspora.

Coast Guard spokesman Lieutenant Commander Amirul Haque said the boat left from near the camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district on Friday, carrying 20 women, five men and five children.

“On Sunday, the boat was attacked by pirates who took all valuables from the refugees and crippled the boat’s engine before leaving,” he told reporters.

“They were drifting in the sea without much food as the boat was only meant to take them to a bigger trawler waiting in deep sea. If we hadn’t rescued them in time, they would have faced serious consequences,” another coast guard spokesman told AFP.

Police said the refugees would be sent to Bhashan Char, a controversial island facility where Dhaka aims to relocate about 100,000 refugees from the congested camps.