"But we have to remember that many of (them) have relatives in other countries such as Malaysia. That may be one of the reasons why they continued their journey," she added.
Other squalid and congested camps in the area are home to nearly 900,000 Rohingya, most of whom fled a brutal military offensive by Myanmar's military in 2017.
"So we attacked the crew since we had nothing to lose. It was a life-or-death situation... we threatened to kill the smugglers if they didn't drop us on land."
But since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries which traditionally allowed Rohingya boats to land have been blocking them over fears the migrants could be infected.