On Saint Martin's, a small Bangladesh island in the Bay of Bengal, the country's coast guard stopped 17 other Rohingya and five Bangladeshi traffickers before they could board a rickety fishing boat. Fayezul Islam Mondol, the regional coast guard commander, said they were acting on a tip off. About 740,000 Muslim minority Rohingya have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh since a brutal military crackdown began in August 2017. They joined another 300,000 Rohingya already living in overcrowded camps in the Cox's Bazar area following previous bouts of violence. Thousands of refugees attempt to flee the camps each year in pursuit of better opportunities in countries such as Malaysia and Thailand.

Source: The Nation Bangkok May 18, 2019 07:41 UTC