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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka's navy has arrested 32 people suspected to be Rohingya refugees and their Indian traffickers from a boat off the country's northern coast.
Navy spokesman Chaminda Walakuluge said Monday that a coast guard patrol observed the boat entering Sri Lankan waters Sunday. The 30 passengers from Myanmar included 16 children, including an infant just 15 days old and a 4-month-old baby. The two Indians were suspected to be their traffickers.
Walakuluge said that the suspects have been handed over to police for further inquiries.
He said the people told the navy that they arrived in India four years ago as refugees.
It is unclear why they left India or if they intended traveling elsewhere from Sri Lanka.
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