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Two boats carrying nearly 300 Muslim Rohingya refugees were turned away by Malaysian authorities after the refugees entered the country illegally.

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Nearly 300 people, believed to be Muslim Rohingya refugees, were turned away by Malaysian authorities after entering the country illegally, as stated on Saturday. The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency reported that two boats attempting to enter the country were intercepted following the arrival of 196 Rohingya on the northeastern resort island of Langkawi early on Friday. These individuals were detained by authorities.

Later on Friday, two additional boats were detected off Langkawi, with those on board reportedly exhausted and lacking sufficient food and water. Maritime Enforcement Agency chief Mohamad Rosli Abdullah confirmed that food supplies and drinking water were provided to the two boats before they were escorted out of the country to continue their journey. Details regarding the boats’ origins and destinations were not disclosed.

Many Rohingya, residing in refugee camps in Bangladesh, are lured by traffickers to seek better lives elsewhere. Bangladesh currently hosts over 1 million Rohingya refugees who fled violence in Myanmar, where security forces have been accused of mass rapes and killings during a brutal counterinsurgency campaign in 2017.

Although Malaysia has previously accepted Rohingya refugees on humanitarian grounds, efforts have been made to limit their numbers due to concerns about a mass influx of boat arrivals. As of late November, around 111,410 Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers were registered with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Malaysia, comprising about 58% of the total refugee population in the country.

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