Around 250 people, including children, are feared missing after a boat carrying Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals capsized in the Andaman Sea, the United Nations said this week.
"The trawler, which departed from Teknaf in southern Bangladesh and was on its way to Malaysia, reportedly sank due to heavy winds, rough seas, and overcrowding," the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement.
Each year, thousands of Rohingya — Myanmar’s Muslim minority — undertake perilous sea journeys to escape repression and conflict, often travelling in overcrowded and makeshift vessels.
The exact circumstances surrounding the latest incident were unclear, but preliminary information indicated that the vessel was carrying 280 people and left Bangladesh on April 4. "This tragic incident reflects the dire consequences of protracted displacement and the absence of durable solutions for the Rohingya," the UNHCR statement said.
The Rohingya on board the boat were likely leaving huge camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar, where more than a million refugees forced to flee Myanmar's western state of Rakhine live in squalid conditions. Rakhine state has been the scene of fierce fighting between the military and the Arakan Army, an ethnic minority rebel group, over control of the territory.
