News Desk
BANDA ACEH/GENEVA: At least 180 ethnic Rohingya, who were stranded at sea for weeks after leaving Bangladesh in November, are feared dead after their boat was thought to have sunk this month, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.
Citing unconfirmed reports, the refugee agency said that the “unseaworthy” boat, which had started to crack in early December, went missing at sea. The agency said that relatives had lost contact with those in the boat.
Tragic occurrences involving the death of Rohingya Muslims amid thirst, hunger and boat sinking are highly common.
Last week, two activist groups said that up to 20 people died due to hunger or thirst on a boat carrying at least 100 refugees that was left stranded at sea for two weeks off India’s coast. Meanwhile, police in Indonesia said that a broken-down boat carrying 57 Rohingya refugees landed on the country’s western coast on Sunday after a month at sea.
Suppression of Rohingya Muslims at hands of Myanmar government
The Rohingya Muslims in Buddhist-majority Myanmar have been living under extremely harsh conditions. The Myanmar government has suppressed them since long, denying them citizenship and labeling them as interlopers and illegal immigrants from South Asia.
Traffickers often lure them to make highly risky journeys, promising them to provide work in Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia.
Forced to adrift at sea
Enduring thirst, hunger and disease, Rohingya refugees, who escape the suppression by Myanmar government, often drift in international waters hoping to find food, jobs and shelter.
Over a million Rohingya who migrated from Myanmar are living in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh. Among these, tens of thousands are those who fled Myanmar after its military conducted a deadly crackdown in 2017.
