Activist: Rohingya at sea without food, water beg for rescue

Ethnic Rohingya migrants hold banners during a rally in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Tuesday, May 12, 2015. Hundreds of migrants abandoned at sea by smugglers in Southeast Asia have reached land and relative safety in the past two days. But an estimated 6,000 Bangladeshis and Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar remain trapped in crowded, wooden boats, migrant officials and activists said. With food and clean water running low, some could be in grave danger. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

By Associated Press May 12, 2015 2 min read

LANGKAWI, Malaysia (AP) – A ship carrying hundreds of Rohingya Muslims sent out a distress call asking to be rescued Tuesday, saying they were abandoned by their captain without fuel and have been without food or water for three days.

Chris Lewa, director of the non-profit Arakan Project, says she spoke by phone with one of the migrants on board the Thai vessel.

“They asked to be urgently rescued,” she said, adding there were an estimated 350 people on board, 50 of them women.

“They are not exactly sure where they are, possibly near Langkawi,” she said, referring to the Malaysian resort island that has been the dropoff point in recent days for more than 1,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshis.

“They say they can see the shore from where they are. They say they have had no food and water.”