LANGKAWI: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) found nothing over the past week in a search-and-rescue operation launched following news that boatloads of migrants were at sea waiting to land in Malaysia.
The operation, which began on May 20, involved three ships, five boats, one Bombardier aircraft and one Dauphin helicopter and covered more than 10,300 sq km of sea, said MMEA Northern Region chief of enforcement First Admiral (Maritime) Tan Kok Wee.
“A total of 150 to 200 personnel were engaged in each day of the operation. We will continue the operation until we get further instructions,” he told reporters yesterday on board the patrol craft KM Malawali in Langkawi waters.
Tan said all vessels brought along food and drinks for distribution to the migrants whom the MMEA personnel might come across during the operation.
The MMEA also received the assistance of several non-governmental organisations which contributed the food supplies, he said.
More than 1,000 migrants from Bangladesh and of the Rohingya community in Myanmar landed in Langkawi earlier this month. — Bernama