Afp, Colombo : 17.02.13
Sri Lanka’s navy yesterday rescued 38 Myanmar nationals who were
drifting off the island’s east coast, the second batch of boatpeople to
be saved in as many weeks, officials said.
Sri Lankan naval craft responding to a distress call plucked the 38
people from a rickety boat drifting about 250 miles (400 kilometres)
off the east coast, a navy official said.
Four of the rescued passengers required treatment for dehydration
and they were being brought to the southern port of Galle, he said.
“Four people required medical attention and are out of danger,” the
navy official, who asked not to be named, said. “They will reach shore
by tomorrow (Sunday).”
On February 3, the navy rescued 138 Bangladeshi and Myanmar
nationals
from a sinking boat. One of the passengers in that boat had
died before help reached.
Officials said it was unclear if those identified as Myanmar
nationals were Rohingya — members of a stateless Muslim minority
described by the UN as one of the world’s most persecuted groups — who
had fled Myanmar.
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