Eleven survivors of a deadly boat capsize two weeks ago appeared in a Malaysian court on Wednesday, charged with illegally being in the Southeast Asian country, officials said.
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The accused – nine Myanmar nationals and two Bangladeshi citizens – were among 14 people rescued after the November 6 shipwreck off a Thai island near the Malaysian maritime border.
They are said to be from a group of around 70 undocumented migrants, mostly from Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya community, who were trying to reach Malaysia when their vessel overturned.
A charge sheet said the group, aged between 17 and 43, was accused of entering the country around the Malaysian island resort of Langkawi “without valid passes”.
Langkawi police chief Khairul Azhar Nuruddin said the charges were read in court “but they [the suspects] did not understand”.
The case was postponed to December 21, in order for interpreters to be arranged, Khairul said.
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If convicted, offenders faced a fine of up to US$2,400 or five years’ imprisonment, or both, and up to six strokes of the cane.