Malaysia intercepted a boat carrying 56 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar off its northern island of Langkawi on Tuesday and will allow them to enter on humanitarian grounds, with rights groups expecting further such perilous journeys by sea.
The boat had also halted for short period of time in Thailand on Sunday where it underwent some repair work and loaded it with food and other supplies.
As per reports, the passengers were safe but tired and hungry and would be handed over to the immigration authorities for humanitarian reasons, meaning, that they will be allowed to stay and not be sent back to sea.
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency said in a statement that the boat was carrying 19 men, 17 women and 20 children. It had since been escorted to the peninsula and its occupants handed over to immigration authorities for processing.
The refugees are said to be fleeing from overcrowded camps for the stateless minority in southern Bangladesh.
Malaysia's standard policy has been to turn away refugee boats attempting to make landfall, unless weather conditions are bad, though thousands have managed to enter the country over the years.