Thai navy took our engine and set us adrift, says Rohingyan refugee

Survivors of a hellish voyage in which most of those on board starved to death say Thailand's navy removed the engine of their boat, leaving them to drift for 25 days at sea before they were rescued.

The Rohingya Muslims were suffering from serious dehydration when they were rescued about 400 kilometres off Sri Lanka's east coast; 97 of their fellow passengers died from starvation.

The Sri Lankan navy said it was alerted to the sinking vessel by a fisherman.

"The journey was dangerous, but we had to do that ... as we fear for our lives, no jobs, and big fighting," one of the survivors, Shofiulla, said.

Sectarian violence in western Myanmar, where the Rohingya live, has killed hundreds of people and displaced 100,000 more since June.

Shofiulla, 24, said 130 people were on the boat when the journey to Malaysia started on January 10. Each had paid US$465.

After 10 days' travel, he said the boat reached the Thai border when two boats from the Thai navy intercepted them. Shofiulla said the sailors took their engine.

"Then we [had] no food, no rations ... no water. We drank only sea water," he said.

The bodies of the 97 who died over the next 25 days were put into the sea, he said.

Colonel Thanathip Sawangsaeng, a Thailand Defence Ministry spokesman, denied the allegations. "This is absolutely not true. The Thai Navy officers would have not done that," he said. Similar accusations had arisen in the past, including claims that the Thai Navy had abused the refugees, he noted.

"The Royal Thai Navy commander has previously made it clear that the Thai officers have treated the boat people according to humanitarian principles.

"There are two approaches in handling the Rohingya: giving them food and help before letting them carry on their sea journey or prosecute them for illegal entry.

"However, it's not possible that the Thai Navy would have done what they were alleged to have done."

In the past, the ISOC branch of the Thai army - not the navy - executed a policy, now discontinued, of towing Rohingya out to sea in unpowered boats and casting them adrift.

Last month, the Thai army said two senior officers had been suspended pending investigations into alleged involvement in trafficking Rohingya from Myanmar into other countries.

Shofiulla said he was a second-year student studying microbiology, but that his university was closed last July after the fighting erupted.

"We can't go back to our country ... our government kills Muslims ... we are afraid to go back. We want to go to a safe place," said Shofiulla, who appeared to be the only English-speaking person in the group.

He said they wanted to go to Malaysia to find jobs, following in the footsteps of others from his village. He said 25 people were in the detention centre while eight were still in hospital.

Sri Lanka's Immigration and Emigration Controller Chulananda Perera said his department had informed the Myanmese embassy and soughts its co-operation in identifying the survivors to begin the process of sending them back but had not received a response.

There was no immediate comment from the embassy.