Drifting boat found

New Delhi: India’s coast guard found 81 survivors and eight dead on a boat crammed with Rohingya refugees adrift in the Andaman Sea, an Indian official said yesterday, but the survivors would not be allowed to enter Indian territory.

Another refugee was missing, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said.

The United Nations refugee agency raised the alarm earlier this week over the missing boat, which had set off on February 11 from Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, where refugee camps have been established for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have fled Myanmar.

After four days at sea the boat’s engine failed, and the Rohingya had run out of food and water and many were ill and suffering from extreme dehydration by the time they were rescued, Srivastava said.

The Indian Government was in discussions with Bangladesh to ensure their safe return, he said. — Reuters