13 bodies believed to be Indonesians found dead off the coast of Malaysia

JAKARTA, Indonesia – A total of 13 bodies believed to be from Indonesia were found floating in the waters of Johor Bahru, Malaysia on Tuesday morning, January 26, at around 7 am local time. They are thought to be of Indonesian Workers (TKI) that attempted to enter Malaysia illegally.

“We have not been able to confirm that dozens of bodies that have been recovered are [Indonesian] citizens. However, based on information from Malaysian police we received half an hour ago, they found two Indonesian passports when recovering the bodies,” Consul General of Indonesia in Johor Bahru Taufiqur Rijal told Rappler by telephone on Tuesday.

The 13 bodies have now been brought to Sutan Aminah Hospital, Johor Bahru.

Taufiqur said it will see if the passports matched with the bodies found to verify if they originated from Indonesia.

“We still need time to process identification,” said Taufiqur.

Of the 13 bodies, 9 were women and 4 were men. They were found floating in the waters of Kelise Beach in Johor Bahru, while their vessel was suspected to have been hit by waves as high as 3 meters.  

Taufiqur said the vessel came from the direction of Indonesia and intended to go to Johor Bahru.

“We obtained this information after repeatedly confirming with the Malaysian police. Most likely they came from Batam, because from there the beach location in Malaysia is not too far away,” said Taufiqur.

Malaysia is Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy and a magnet for migrant workers from its poorer neighbors, with the vast majority coming from Indonesia.

About two million Indonesians, many of them working illegally, are now in Malaysia doing a range of generally low-paid jobs.

Deadly accidents in the strait are not uncommon, with travellers typically attempting the crossing in rickety vessels and often at night to avoid detection.

In September 2015 an overcrowded wooden boat capsized and sank in rough seas about 16 kilometers (10 miles) off central Malaysia’s Selangor state. The group was leaving Malaysia to return to Sumatra in Indonesia, across the Malacca Strait. More than 60 are said to have died.

In June 2014 more than a dozen people drowned when a boat overloaded with around 100 Indonesians sank while taking passengers home for the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. – Rappler.com/with reports from Agence France-Presse