Jakarta - Indonesia said Friday that it would deport 193 Rohingya boat people but was seeking assurances from Myanmar and Bangladesh that they would not be harmed when returned.

The Muslim Rohingyas, who were rescued January 7 from the sea off Aceh province, have pleaded to the Indonesian government not to send them back, saying they faced persecution in Myanmar.

But Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said Indonesia had no choice but to deport them because they were considered economic migrants.

"Right now, that's our only option," Faizasyah said. "We have come to a conclusion that they have left their country to seek a better life."

He said Indonesia was consulting Myanmar and Bangladesh to seek assurances that the Rohingyas would be treated well if they were returned to their home countries.

Faizasyah said 17 of the boat people were from Bangladesh while the remainder came from Myanmar.

He said there were suspicions that they were victims of human trafficking but the ministry would interview them one by one to determine the reason for their migration.

In an interview with the English-language channel of the Qatar-based al-Jazeera news network, the leader of the boat people said they would face death if they were sent back to Myanmar.

"In that case, we will ask the Indonesians to kill us," Noor Mohammad told al-Jazeera. "It's better if we die in the hands of Muslims."

The boat people in Aceh were part of 585 asylum seekers who set out on their journey on five boats from Myanmar in early December.

Al-Jazeera, citing Mohammad's account, said Myanmar authorities arrested and beat up the asylum seekers soon after their journey began but later released and gave them fuel and a compass.

Two weeks later, they arrived in Thailand, but the Thai army took them inland and severely beat some of them, the report said.

The Thai army then took them back to sea and set them adrift.

There were fears that hundreds of the boat people were missing and had drowned.

Myanmar's ruling junta has declared the Rohingya minority stateless, denying its members citizenship as they are deemed to be Bangladeshis despite having lived in what is now western Myanmar for at least two centuries.

There are an estimated 250,000 Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh and an estimated 20,000 working illegally in Thailand.

Meanwhile, the human rights group Amnesty International expressed concern about the plight of the Rohingyas, calling on regional governments to cooperate to protect them.

"Thousands of Rohingyas have fled in recent months on boats sailing for Thailand and Malaysia, and hundreds are missing, feared drowned," Amnesty said in a statement.

"Any regional solution must ensure that those Rohingyas who have a well-founded fear of persecution in Myanmar are not returned there and that those found not to be in need of protection are returned in a humane manner," it said.

Thailand's newly appointed government under Prime Minster Abhisit Vejjajiva has come under heavy criticism for the treatment of Rohingyas, which casts doubts on the new government's commitment to human rights and the fair treatment of refugees and undocumented migrants.

Abhisit has promised to investigate and called for a long-term regionwide solution to the Rohingya problem.

Lacking citizenship and job opportunities, the Rohingyas have migrated to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia looking for work and receiving little welcome.

Few Western countries have expressed an interest in opening their doors for a Rohingya resettlement programme. (dpa)