A migrant boat pushed back to sea by South-East Asian nations over the weekend has not been heard from for two days, raising concerns about what has happened to the 300 people on board, rights groups said yesterday.The boat was pushed backward and forward between Malaysian and Thai waters last week in what the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has described as “maritime ping-pong”.
The overcrowded wooden vessel was last seen late on Saturday when the Thai navy towed it away from Thailand and toward Indonesia, Thai Navy Lieutenant Commander Veerapong Nakprasit told Reuters.
“There is absolutely no information because they are out of the radar’s radius,” Veerapong told Reuters. “The last known location was on May 16 at 9.30pm (1430 GMT).”
Chris Lewa, whose Arakan Project tracks the movement of Rohingya boats, also said there has been no word from the boat since Saturday.
“It’s scary. Pushing boats back is really a death sentence for people.”…
Were these particular Muslims not suitable for Malaysia’s oil palm plantations?
Sarawakians have to listen to a great deal of holier-than-thou, haji-going proselytising from the powerful Muslims, who run UMNO and now their own state.
But, who would not feel shame to share a religion with those in authority, who made the decision to turn away these desperate families – who are on the high seas primarily because they have clung to this very same faith as their own?
If one Muslim is so callous towards another Muslim, what point to convert?
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