More than 500 feared dead after reports of boats capsizing off Myanmar

The IOM and UNHCR accidental 2 boats carrying mostly Rohingya passengers departed Rakhine State successful precocious June.

Two boats carrying much than 500 radical are feared to person capsized disconnected the seashore of Myanmar successful caller days, United Nations agencies person said.

According to preliminary accusation reported connected Thursday by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN exile bureau (UNHCR), the 2 vessels departed from Myanmar’s Rakhine State successful precocious June carrying mostly Rohingya passengers.

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One boat, believed to person been carrying astir 250 people, mislaid interaction soon aft departure. A 2nd boat, reportedly carrying immoderate 280 people, is believed to person sunk disconnected Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady seashore connected July 8, they said.

“While the incidents and casualty figures person yet to beryllium officially confirmed, UNHCR and IOM are gravely acrophobic by the perchance devastating nonaccomplishment of life,” work the statement.

Before the latest incidents, more than 300 radical had been killed oregon reported missing successful the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal, it said. These included Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals, it added.

″While the incidents and casualty figures person yet to beryllium officially confirmed, UNHCR and IOM are gravely acrophobic by the perchance devastating nonaccomplishment of life,” the agencies said.

The Rohingya, who person successful caller years fled some Myanmar and Bangladesh’s exile camps by the thousands, typically debar specified vessel journeys astatine this clip of year, erstwhile monsoons are frequent, and conditions astatine oversea are peculiarly dangerous. The UNHCR and IOM noted this successful their statement, saying that caller torrential rainfall and flooding crossed the portion would person made specified journeys particularly risky.

About 1.2 cardinal stateless, predominantly Muslim Rohingya stay successful overcrowded exile camps successful Bangladesh aft fleeing waves of unit by Myanmar’s information forces. Steep cuts to overseas assistance by the US and different countries person led to ration cuts successful the camps.

The refugees person no mode to safely instrumentality to Myanmar, wherever the subject that killed thousands of Rohingya successful 2017 during what respective countries person declared a genocide remains successful complaint of their homeland. The Rohingya inactive surviving successful Myanmar look terrible restrictions and galore are confined to internment camps, portion the subject and an equipped radical successful Rakhine person fought for power of the region.

The unrest has led to an expanding fig of Rohingya attempting to marque the unsafe water crossing to Malaysia connected rickety boats. Thousands person died successful the process, including babies, children and large women. Local maritime authorities person often abandoned the Rohingya astatine sea, often ignoring reports of boats successful distress.

The IOM and UNHCR said connected Thursday that the latest imaginable calamity astatine oversea underscores the continued deficiency of sustainable solutions for the Rohingya, and urged the planetary assemblage to enactment those trapped successful Bangladesh’s camps.

“Stronger determination and planetary efforts are needed to forestall further nonaccomplishment of beingness on 1 of the world’s deadliest maritime routes, including done enhanced hunt and rescue efforts, entree to asylum and protection, and actions against smuggling and trafficking networks,” the agencies said.

More than 6,500 Rohingya fled, and astir 900 were reported dormant oregon missing successful 2025, the deadliest twelvemonth for Rohingya who tried to permission by boat. The fig represents the highest mortality complaint of immoderate large way for exile and migrant oversea journeys successful the world, the UNHCR said.