‘Many more could die’: Urgent plea for Rohingya refugees trapped at sea
Al Jazeera
At least one passenger on a boat carrying 185 refugees has died, with dozens more in ‘critical condition’, warns UNHCR.
Fears are growing for scores of Rohingya refugees believed to be stranded at sea in the Indian Ocean, after a boat they set off in from Bangladesh saw its engine fail.
The group of some 185 Rohingya, mostly women and children, are in desperate need of rescue after falling into distress near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Saturday.
The Rohingya were fleeing overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh, where they had taken shelter after escaping their homeland in Myanmar. More than 750,000 Rohingya were forced to flee Myanmar in 2017 after the military launched a crackdown on the Muslim minority, torching their homes and properties. The United States accused the military of committing genocide against the Rohingya people, while a genocide case against Myanmar is under way at the UN’s top court.
