"People traffickers holding hundreds of Rohingya refugees at sea are demanding payments from their families to release them from boats off the shores of Southeast Asia, relatives and rights groups say. Several hundred Rohingya, members of a largely Muslim minority from Myanmar fleeing persecution at home and refugee camps in Bangladesh, have been stranded for months after countries sealed their borders to block the spread of the coronavirus. More: 'Desperate journeys': Rohingya children recall ordeal at sea Lawyers seek Facebook posts of Myanmar leaders in Rohingya case Rohingya crisis through the eyes of Al Jazeera's journalists Three people who said their relatives were at sea told the Reuters news agency that traffickers had demanded money to release them from boats that have been off Southeast Asia since February, trying to find a place to land. "Before, the deal was that if they were able to reach the Malaysian shore then they will take the money, but they're asking for it now," said Mohammed Ayas, who said his 16-year-old brother left a refugee camp in Bangladesh in February. Since then, the family has heard nothing from him, Ayas said. Musha, whose two sisters are also at sea after leaving camps in Bangladesh in February, said brokers acting for the traffickers asked the family to pay 12,000 ringgit ($2,800) via a mobile banking service for their transfer to Malaysia. He said the family paid the sum but did not know the fate of the two teenaged girls. For years, Rohingya have boarded boats between November and April, when the seas are calm, to get to Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. But coronavirus lockdowns have left boats stranded at sea. Dozens of people died on board a boat that had to return to Bangladesh in April after running out of food and water, survivors told Reuters..."