UN issues call to rescue hundreds of Rohingya adrift at sea; many heading to Indonesia and Malaysia

The two overcrowded boats carrying about 400 passengers had experienced engine failures, and are now drifting in the Andaman Sea. - PHOTO: AFP

JAKARTA/BANGKOK (AFP): The United Nations called Saturday for nations to rescue hundreds of Rohingya it said were trapped onboard two unseaworthy vessels adrift in the Andaman Sea.

Thousands of the mostly Muslim Rohingya, heavily persecuted in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, risk their lives each year in long, expensive sea journeys -- often in boats in poor condition -- trying to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.