Rohingya refugees die in Myanmar

SEVEN Rohingya from a group of 65 who were seized by Myanmar authorities from a boat off the southern coast died of hunger, thirst and exposure, state media said last Friday (2).

Last Monday (29), authorities detained a vessel near Pyapon township, around 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of commercial hub Yangon, said the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

“Four traffickers and 65 smuggled Bengalis were temporarily detained,” it said, using the term by which Rohingya are pejoratively referred to by many in Myanmar.

Three men and four women later “died due to the bad weather and lack of food and water”, the report said.

Six others were still receiving medical treatment, while five men from the group “were detained so that they could be investigated and prosecuted under the law”, the newspaper added.

The Rohingya still in Myanmar are widely seen as interlopers from Bangladesh. They are largely denied citizenship, many rights and access to healthcare and education.