Jakarta - Scars and welts suffered by Myanmar's Rohingya boat people rescued by the Indonesian Navy after drifting in the sea for three weeks were consistent with their claims that they had been mistreated by Thai authorities, an Indonesian doctor said Wednesday.

At least 198 refugees belonging to Myanmar's Rohingya ethnic minority who claimed they were fleeing persecution in their military-ruled country were rescued by the Indonesian navy off the coast of westernmost Aceh province early Tuesday.

They were the second batch of Rohingya boat people to be picked up off Indonesia, after 193 people were rescued early last month off Sabang island on the northern tip of Aceh.

About 115 of the boat people rescued Tuesday were treated at the state-run hospital in Idi Rayeuk, the main town in East Aceh district and their injuries showed they had been subjected to violence, said Syahroni Ibnu, a doctor who treated them.

"About 40 of them have long scars and welts, indicating that they had been lashed and subjected to physical abuse," Syahroni told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa by telephone.

"But their injuries are not serious. They mostly suffered from severe dehydration," he said, adding that it appeared they had not eaten for a week when they were rescued.

He said some of the boat people told hospital officials that they had stayed for two months in Thailand, some of them working, before they were sent to a detention center by Thai authorities.

They were later towed out to sea in four motorless boats and abandoned with little food or other provisions, the doctor said.

"They said there were more than 1,000 people in four boats. The fate of the others are not known," he said.

The refugees earlier told officials that 22 of them died at sea.

Human rights groups fear hundreds of them had drowned.

Most of the Rohingyas were discharged from hospital and joined others staying at a government building since they were rescued, Syahroni said.

East Aceh district deputy chief Nasruddin Abubakar said the boat people begged officials not to send them back to Myanmar.

"They said they wanted to remain here because if they were returned their lives would be in danger," he said.

An Islamic boarding school has expressed interest to house the boat people, he said.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman could not be reached for comment but Nasruddin said officials were on their way to examine the status of the boat people.

The Indonesian rescues came as the Rohingya flee impoverished, military-run Myanmar, and Thailand has been accused of mistreating the migrants and casting them adrift at sea.

The Foreign Ministry said last week it would deport the Rohingya boat people rescued in January but was seeking assurances from Myanmar that they would not be harmed when returned.

The government said it considered the boat people economic migrants, not political asylum seekers.

Myanmar's ruling junta has declared the Muslim Rohingyas stateless, considering them Bangladeshis and denying them citizenship although they have lived in Myanmar's Arakan state 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.

Thailand's newly appointed government under Prime Minster Abhisit Vejjajiva has promised to investigate allegations that the Thai army had mistreated the boat people.

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

Despite their downtrodden status in the region, few Western countries have expressed interest in opening their doors to a Rohingya resettlement programme. (dpa)