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Zulkifli Abu Bakar, the director general of Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency has indicated that the Malaysian coastguard will not turn away muslims fleeing the violence in Myanmar.

According to reports from reuters, "Rohingya insurgents attacked several police posts and an army base in Myanmar on Aug. 25. The ensuing clashes and a military counter-offensive has killed at least 400 people and triggered the exodus of more than 160,000 people to neighboring Bangladesh."

As a result of these renewed attacks and clashes, over a hundred thousand muslims have since fled Myanmar and neighbours Malaysia are expected to receive some of those fleeing the violence by boats in the coming weeks.

"We are supposed to provide basic necessities for them to continue their journey and push them away. But at the end of the day, because of humanitarian reasons, we will not be able to do that," Zulkifli told Reuters, adding that no fresh refugees had been seen yet.

There are about 59,000 Rohingya refugees registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia although unofficial numbers are almost double that.

As Malaysia which is a mainly Muslim country is not a signatory to the  U.N. Refugee Convention, it is likely that these Rohingya refugees will most likely be housed in immigration detention centres designed for illegal immigrants.

Meanwhile, Thailand has also indicated that it is making preparations to receive the people fleeing the violence in Myanmar.