Hundreds missing after Rohingya refugee 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 refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

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

The trawler had departed Teknaf in southern Bangladesh and was attempting to reach Malaysia, according to reports.

“This tragedy highlights the devastating human cost ‌of protracted displacement and the continued absence of durable solutions for the Rohingya,” the UNHCR and the IOM said in their statement.

Long persecuted in Myanmar, more than 730,000 Rohingya were forced to flee their homes in 2017 amid a campaign of ethnic cleansing by Myanmar’s military, and sought safety in refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh.

Thousands of Rohingya risk their lives every year to flee both repression and civil war in Myanmar and the overcrowded camps in Bangladesh, often going to sea on makeshift boats to reach neighbouring countries and the possibility of a better life.

The Bangladesh coastguard said one of its vessels, which was on the way to Indonesia, managed to rescue nine people from the capsized trawler, including one woman, on April 9, the AFP news agency reported.

Coastguard 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 Turkiye’s Andalou news agency, of the nine rescued, six were alleged to be involved in trafficking. They have been detained, according to police.

‘We floated for 36 hours’

One of the survivors, Rafiqul Islam, told AFP 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 during the sea journey.

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

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

Last year, the UNHCR said that 427 Rohingya were feared dead at sea in two shipwrecks off the Myanmar coast in May.