At least one passenger on a boat carrying 185 refugees has died, while dozens of others are in “critical condition,” warns the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Concerns are growing for dozens of Rohingya refugees believed to be stranded at sea in the Indian Ocean, after the engine of the boat they set off from Bangladesh broke down.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said on Saturday that the group of about 185 Rohingya, most of whom are women and children, are in urgent need of rescue after falling into distress near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The Rohingya were fleeing overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh, where they had taken refuge after fleeing their homeland in Myanmar. More than 750,000 Rohingya were forced to flee Myanmar in 2017 after the army launched a crackdown on the Muslim minority, burning their homes and property. The United States has accused the military of committing genocide against the Rohingya people, while the genocide case against Myanmar is ongoing before the UN Supreme Court.
The UN agency said that at least one of the boat's passengers had already died, and that ten others were in “critical condition.”
The Commission warned that “a much larger number may die under the surveillance of many coastal countries without being rescued and disembarked in a timely manner to the nearest safe place.” “It's really a desperate situation.”
Thousands of Rohingya, most of them Muslims, who are severely persecuted in Myanmar, make dangerous sea journeys from their country and refugee camps in Bangladesh every year, trying to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.
More than 2,000 Rohingya are believed to have attempted the perilous journey to Southeast Asian countries in 2022, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
She added that since last year, more than 570 people, including Rohingya refugees, have been reported killed or missing at sea in the region.
When it comes to people currently drifting, the agency emphasized that “a greater tragedy could be avoided by making timely efforts to save lives.”
“This situation once again underscores the importance of all countries in the region deploying their full search and rescue capabilities to avoid humanitarian disasters on this scale.”
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