LANGKAWI: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has activated Ops Guard following the discovery of a boat with almost 200 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.
MMEA director-general Rear Admiral Datuk Mohd Rosli Abdullah said the operation was activated to find remnants of the refugees, reported to be on their way to Langkawi.
"This action follows the arrest of 196 undocumented migrants by police in the Pantai Teluk Yu area at 3.25am on Friday (Jan 3), after the boat carrying them was stranded there," he said in a statement.
Rear Adm Rosli said information received by the agency indicated two more boats ferrying the refugees, although their exact location has not been established.
ALSO READ: Some 200 illegal Rohingya refugees land in Langkawi
"We have deployed vessels to the (area), are conducting patrols in the northern waters of Langkawi and the national border area, and dispatched aircraft to carry out aerial surveillance.
"Additionally, we have enhanced radar monitoring through the Sea Surveillance System (Swasla) to track the undocumented migrants," he said
He said MMEA has also contacted its counterpart in Thailand to determine whether or not it had detected the vessels.
He urged the community around Langkawi to immediately report any information to the emergency hotline at 999 or contact the Langkawi Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre at 04-9662750 or 011-58925868 if they notice any suspicious activities in Malaysian waters.
He added that from 2010 to last year, a total of 2,089 undocumented migrants from Myanmar on 18 vessels had been detained by MMEA and other enforcement agencies while attempting to enter the country.
