A rickety boat pulled ashore by Indonesian fishermen early Wednesday was the same vessel chased away – and threatened with gunfire – by the Thai navy last week, a survivor said.
Sirajul Islam, a Rohingya Muslim who was among several hundred starving and dehydrated migrants brought to shore in Aceh province today, says their ship was the same one sent away May 14 after being found dead in the water off Koh Lipe. The Thai navy repaired the engine and provided food and drinks.
But Mr Islam said that the navy, after giving them provisions, pushed the boat away "within 10 minutes, otherwise they would shoot our ship."
The Thai navy said earlier it has been providing help to the migrants, but that most of them did not want to land in Thailand and insisted on going to Malaysia.
Hundreds of migrants are seen on a boat drifting 17km off the coast of Koh Lipe May 14. Thailand refused to grant it permission to land. (Reuters photo)
The 23-year-old also says he saw for himself "how 10 of us, including women and children, died of starvation" while being stranded on the boat for months.
Razali Puteh, the fisherman who first spotted the migrants, said he and others were fishing about 60 kilometres off the coast of Indonesia's Aceh province when they saw the overcrowded trawler about three kilometres away.
"When coming close, I was very surprised with what I saw on the boat," he said. "It was crammed with people ... I was speechless and breaking down into tears when watching them screaming, waving hands and cloth."
He says: "I could not have let them die, because they are also human beings, just like me. I am grateful to be able to save hundreds of lives."
A Royal Thai Navy handout photo made available May 19 shows some 450 ethnic Rohingya migrants on a boat off Koh Lipe May 14 receiving food, water and other aid supplies from Thai navy officers. A survivor of the journey said in Indonesia today the navy threatened to shoot the vessel if it didn’t leave after getting provisions. (EPA photo)
