In a tragic maritime incident off the coast of Malaysia, an 18-year-old Rohingya migrant, Iman Shorif, was rescued after enduring days stranded on Langkawi Island. The boat he was on, carrying approximately 70 undocumented migrants from Myanmar, capsized near the Thai-Malaysian maritime border, claiming at least 26 lives. Iman, visibly weak and shaken, recounted witnessing the drowning of a child during the disaster. The journey had begun in Buthidaung, a township in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, and lasted five to six days before the vessel sank. Iman was spotted by Malaysian rescuers waving a polystyrene board and was found near a waterfall, which provided him with fresh water. The migrants were part of a larger group of around 300 people who had left Myanmar two weeks prior, split between at least two boats. The second vessel remains missing, and its fate is unknown. Malaysian authorities have recovered 20 bodies, while Thai officials reported finding six, including two with UNHCR identification cards. Fourteen survivors, mainly Rohingya and Bangladeshi citizens, have been rescued since search operations began on Sunday. The Rohingya, persecuted in Myanmar for decades, often risk their lives on perilous sea journeys facilitated by human trafficking syndicates. In 2024, 657 Rohingya died in the region’s waters, according to UNHCR. Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) highlighted the urgent humanitarian concerns raised by the latest shipwreck, emphasizing that such dangerous journeys are undertaken out of fear for their lives.