FORTY-ONE Rohingya were found on a Malaysian beach on Monday, police said, the second group of the Muslim minority to arrive in the country within weeks, stoking fears of a looming exodus.

In recent weeks, many Rohingya have sought to leave by sea from Bangladesh – where they live in squalid refugee camps after fleeing Myanmar – before the onset of monsoon season.

Security forces have prevented hundreds from departing for Malaysia with people smugglers on fishing boats. But last month 34 Rohingya arrived in the northern Malaysian state of Perlis, the first group believed to have landed in the country in almost a year.

The latest batch, all men, were found on Monday on the same beach as the previous boatload, local police chief Noor Mushar Mohamad said.

“This is definitely the work of human smuggling syndicates working with local syndicates,” he said.

“I fear there could be more Rohingya arrivals unless maritime enforcement agencies step up patrols urgently.”

Noor Mushar said initial investigations indicated they could have travelled in a large boat before being transferred to a smaller craft by local criminal gangs and ferried ashore. They have been handed over to immigration authorities, he said.

It was not clear whether they departed from Bangladesh or Myanmar, or when they arrived.

About 740,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar for Bangladesh following a brutal military clampdown in their home country in August 2017, joining hundreds of thousands already living in crowded border camps.

The traditional route to Malaysia is by boat from Myanmar or Bangladesh. Refugees arrive either in Thailand and head overland to Malaysia, or arrive directly in Malaysia.

Arrivals have fallen markedly since 2015 when Thailand launched a crackdown on refugee boats.