On Jan. 28th a ravaged group of Rohingya refugees adrift at sea were rescued by Indonesian fishermen, after a tumultuous and harrowing voyage from their persecuted homeland of Myanmar led them to Thailand, where military officials further persecuted the boat people and left the forsaken boat far into the Indian Ocean. The Rohingya people, a small ethnic Muslim minority group from the former Arakan State in north western Burma, have been subjected to continuous human right violations under the Myanmar military government since 1978, according to Amnesty International. And consequentially has caused hundreds of thousands to flee to neighboring countries of Bangladesh, India, and Malaysia as well as countless other countries in the region. Al-Jazeera reported that the group of 585 Rohingya in five boats took off to sea in search of work to support their families, only to be intercepted a few days later by the Myanmar Navy. The Myanmar soldiers boarded their boat and beat them, and ordered them never to come back, furnishing them with provisions and fuel.
Twelve days later they were found off the Surin Islands near the Thailand Andaman coast. There they are reported to have been taken inland by the Thai army where they received severe beatings, and as one refugee, Noor Muhammad accounts "they were lined up and stripped down to the waist. And one by one pummeled and taunted, with some officers scoffing at them for being Muslim and threatening to burn their traditional beards."
The few that were released were towed out to sea for a day and a night and left engineless, a common proceeding with migrants. A naval officer with the Thai Navy told Al-Jazeera reporters "We have to take the engines off the boats or they will come back. The wind will carry them to India or somewhere." Of the 192 left at sea, a group of them including Noor Muhammad, were found by an Indonesian Fisherman and were brought to Indonesia for treatment. They now face possible deportation back to Myanmar but they plead to rather be killed then sent back.
In Thailand, another 66 Rohingya face criminal charges for illegally entering Thailand. The Thai government contends that the migrants don't qualify as refugee status because they fled for economic reasons. However according to the Associated Press, Human right agencies and the US government have long asserted that the Rohingya People face "gross discrimination and are denied citizenship in their homeland of Myanmar because they are Muslims." 
Kitty McKinsey, a U.N. High Commissions for Refugees, or UNHCR spokeswoman said "UNHCR is opposed to anyone being forcibly returned to Myanmar" given its human rights record. The UNHCR is currently investigating the situation and is calling for access to the detained Rohingya people.