Hundreds missing after Rohingya boat capsizes in Andaman Sea: UN

Approximately 250 Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals are missing after a boat capsized in the Andaman Sea, the United Nations has said.

Loaded with men, women and children, the reportedly sank due to “heavy winds rough seas and overcrowding”, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

Persecuted in Myanmar, thousands of Rohingya risk their lives every year to flee repression and civil war, often going to sea on makeshift boats.

The Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) said one of its ships, which was on the way to Indonesia, managed to rescue nine people from the sea, including one woman, on April 9, the AFP news agency reported.

BCG spokesperson Lieutenant Commander Sabbir Alam Sujan said the vessel “spotted several people floating in the sea using drums and logs and rescued them from deep waters”.

According to the Andalou news agency, of the nine rescued, six are alleged traffickers. They have been detained, according to police.

‘We floated for 36 hours’

One of the survivors, Rafiqul Islam, said that he was lured onto the boat by traffickers, who promised him a job in Malaysia.

“A number of us were kept in the holding area of the trawler, some died there. I was burned by oil that spilled from the trawler,” he said, adding that the vessel travelled for four days before it capsized.

“We floated for nearly 36 hours before a ship rescued us from deep water,” he added, saying that 25 to 30 people died from suffocation and overcrowding.

The UNHCR said the incident reflected the “dire consequences of protracted displacement and the absence of durable solutions for the Rohingya”.

The Andaman Sea stretches along the western shores of Myanmar, Thailand and the Malay Peninsula.

Malaysia is the favoured destination of the Rohingya as it is a Muslim-majority nation and has a sizeable Rohingya diaspora.

In 2017, ⁠Myanmar’s armed forces launched an offensive that forced at least 730,000 Rohingya from their homes and into neighbouring Bangladesh, where they recounted killings, ‌mass rape and arson.