It is understood that those on board had been living in a refugee camp in Tamil Nadu before boarding the boat.
The foreign affairs ministers had reportedly said they would not actively search for the migrants but on Thursday Malaysia's premier, Najib Razak, ordered the navy and maritime officials to launch a search-and-rescue mission for the boat people.
And it came as the new prime minister Kevin Rudd also said he was worried that the constant arrival of asylum seekers by boat would see "the fragmentation of support" for Australia's migration system.
The sick and pregnant must travel by boat to Bandar Abbas to see specialists.
What those opposite need to understand is this Government will not provide permanent visas to those who arrive illegally by boat.
Libya's boat builders are frustrated because the onset of civil war cut deliveries of timber from Egypt.
A boat full of migrants each paying as much as $1,000 can rake in $250,000, easily enough to write off the cost of the boat should it founder.
"They're very professional," said Souad, a Syrian teacher who arrived by boat in Europe.
Often the smugglers just hand the boat over to the migrants, to avoid arrest by Italian ships patrolling the Mediterranean.
They were driven to the Libyan beach where they found 600 people hustling for space on a boat built for less than half that number.
"The sailor was a young Tunisian guy who charged $10,000 for driving the boat.
