Individuals from the principally Muslim Myanmar minority proceed to make perilous journeys throughout the ocean seeking security.
Some 569 Rohingya folks died or went lacking at sea final yr – probably the most since 2014 – as they launched into harmful boat journeys to Southeast Asia, in line with the United Nations refugee company.
The UN Excessive Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stated almost 4,500 Rohingya folks took boats throughout the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal in 2023, fleeing crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh or persecution of their native Myanmar.
“Estimates show one Rohingya was reported to have died or gone missing for every eight people attempting the journey in 2023,” UNHCR spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh stated in a press release. “This makes the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal one of the deadliest stretches of water in the world.”
Tons of of 1000’s of Rohingya reside in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh after a brutal crackdown by the Myanmar army in 2017 that’s the topic of a genocide case on the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice (ICJ).
Those that stay in Myanmar, the place the army seized energy in a coup almost three years in the past, are primarily confined to camps of their native Rakhine State with strict curbs on their motion and every day lives.
Greater than 1,500 Rohingya landed on the northern tip of Indonesia’s Sumatra island on barely seaworthy wood boats in November and December final yr, a interval when waters are typically calmer.
However whereas folks there have beforehand welcomed the refugees, this time villagers and the army pushed boats again out to sea and advised their passengers they may not come ashore regardless of the dreadful circumstances on board.
In a single incident, some 200 folks had been feared to have drowned after their boat sank within the Andaman Sea. Others remained at sea for days longer as they sought a spot to land.
In December, a mob of scholars stormed a neighborhood corridor in Banda Aceh the place dozens of Rohingya had been given shelter, demanding that the group be deported.
The UNHCR urged governments to take steps to keep away from a repeat of such tragedies.
“Saving lives and rescuing those in distress at sea is a humanitarian imperative and a longstanding duty under international maritime law,” the assertion stated, including that the UNHCR was working to develop a “comprehensive regional response” to the boat journeys.
Lots of the Rohingya who flee Bangladesh and Myanmar hope to make it to Malaysia, a majority-Muslim nation that’s presently dwelling to almost 108,000 Rohingya refugees.
Like Indonesia, Malaysia is just not a signatory to the UN Conference on Refugees, and people who reside within the nation are thought-about undocumented migrants susceptible to harassment, detention or deportation.