Rohingya baby born in refugee boat to Thailand

A Rohingya refugee gave birth to a baby boy on an overcrowded boat carrying around 110 people which arrived in Thailand from unrest-hit western Myanmar, an official said yesterday.
The boat was sinking when it landed at Surin island off Thailand's southwestern province of Phang Nga near the border with Myanmar on Wednesday, a local government official told AFP.
"Among them there was a new-born baby, aged around a week up to 10 days old," Manit Pienthong said.
"They (the refugees) told us a baby was born in a boat. We sent the baby to hospital for a check-up -- the baby is fine."
The baby, who weighed three kilograms (6.6 lbs), was returned to his mother and both were taken into the care of immigration authorities, Manit said, although it was unclear what will happen to them next.
Thousands of Rohingya -- members of a stateless Muslim minority described by the UN as one of the world's most persecuted groups -- have fled Myanmar in recent months with many making the perilous sea journey south.
An explosion of tensions between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Myanmar's western state of Rakhine since June 2012 has triggered an exodus of Rohingya.