SINGAPORE — Myanmar’s panel of international advisers on Rohingya issues said on Tuesday that the coming monsoon season could bring “enormous deaths” as refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh are not built to withstand the storms. Rights groups say some 700,000 mostly Muslim Rohingya have fled violence and crossed the border from Myanmar’s Rakhine state since August and most live in flimsy, bamboo-and-plastic structures perched on what were once forested hills at Cox’s Bazaar. “We are at this time in a race against time. For us, the monsoons are coming. The camps of almost one million people are not built to withstand monsoon,” Kobsak Chutikul, the head of the secretariat of the board, said at a press conference in Singapore. “There will be enormous deaths if all parties do not move to some understanding on repatriation, on aid.” Because a repatriation deal between the neighboring countries has been delayed, Bangladesh is racing to prepare new homes on a nearby island, called Bhasan Char, before the monsoons that could arrive later this month. The Advisory Board for the Committee for Implementation of the Recommendations on Rakhine State was set up by Myanmar last year to advise on ways of adopting the findings of an earlier commission headed by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Computer modeling by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) shows that more than 100,000 refugees will be threatened by landslides and floods in the coming monsoons. The rains typically begin in April and peak in July, according to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department. Chutikul’s comments came as Malaysia intercepted a boat 56 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar off its northern island of Langkawi after a storm. The navy chief, Adm. Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin, said the boat was intercepted after it entered Malaysian waters and was moored off the northern resort island of Langkawi. The boat had stopped temporarily Sunday in southern Thailand, where it underwent repairs and was resupplied with fuel and food before being sent on its way to Malaysia, as its passengers reportedly desired. The navy chief said that all of the boat’s passengers were safe but tired and hungry, and were given food and water. The boat and its passengers will be handed over to immigration authorities, he said. Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency chief Zulkifili Abu Bakar said the refugees comprised 19 women, 17 men, 12 boys and eight girls. They appeared weak and their boat was in bad condition, he said. Zulkifili said the refugees would be handed over to immigration authorities for humanitarian reasons, an indirect indication that they will be allowed to stay rather than sent back to sea. The issue of whether to allow them to stay is a sensitive one, because of fears it might encourage a new wave of boat people. However, an expert on the plight of the Rohingya said the appearance this week of the boat — the first known case this year — does not portend a new exodus by sea. Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project, an independent research and advocacy group, said that the safe time for such journeys is about to pass, as the annual monsoon season normally starts in April. Tight security by Myanmar officials also makes departures difficult, though it would not be surprising if a handful of more boats were seen in the near future, she said. Thailand has an official policy of pushing back boat people from its shores, so most Rohingya prefer to head to Malaysia, whose dominant Malay Muslim population makes it a more sympathetic destination. There have also been many cases of Rohingya landing in Thailand being taken by human traffickers and forced into near-slavery, held for ransom or otherwise abused.