New Delhi: Stranded at sea without water, food, or power, a boat from Bangladesh carrying over 160 Rohingya refugees is reportedly awaiting rescue in Indian waters near the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Three people, including children, have already died due to “starvation and dehydration”, Rezuwan Khan, a Rohingya activist who lives in Bangladesh, told ThePrint. His sister and her baby are on the boat.
“I spoke to them yesterday via satellite phone and the situation is very concerning. They do not have water or food. The situation requires urgent help and disembarkation. We are very concerned,” Khan said.
The boat, which set off from south Bangladesh on 26 November, is believed to have suffered engine failure on 4 December, after which it drifted into Indian waters.
The refugees on board had been staying at Kutupalong, the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, and were heading in the boat to Malaysia via Indonesia, Khan said.
“I hope they can quickly be rescued,” a distressed Khan reiterated.
Reports of the stranded boat come just a day after the Sri Lankan navy rescued 104 Rohingya refugees from a trawler that was reportedly going from Myanmar to Indonesia.
Five boats with Rohingya refugees have been known to have left Bangladesh over the past two months. According to a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report published last year, many Rohingya refugees risk the high seas in order to escape unhospitable and cramped conditions at camps.
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A long wait for aid
More than 10 days ago, the UNHCR announced that a group of Rohingya refugees were “in distress” and drifting in a “non-seaworthy vehicle” in the Andaman Coast, off Thailand at that point.
According to reports Sunday, a sea current swept the boat out of the Malacca Strait and into Indian waters, placing it 150 km from Andaman and Nicobar’s Campbell Bay.
The refugee agency had urged countries in the region to “immediately rescue” the refugees, but that is yet to happen.
Khan took to Twitter Sunday and posted a voice recording of him purportedly talking to one of the passengers on the boat. “We are now in India, Andaman,” one voice is heard saying.
Please listen to the voices of the 160 Rohingya people stranded at Andaman for over 3 weeks! @Refugees @UNHCRAsia @amnesty @AJEnglish @IndianExpress @UNHumanRights @UNHCR_BGD @POTUS @SecBlinken @trtworld @CNN @OIC_OCI @RefugeesIntl @MEAIndia @arielmou @indiannavy @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/DMQyapv3tO
— MohammedkhanRezuwan (@Khan_RZW) December 18, 2022
According to data from UNHCR, Bangladesh has hosted over 900,000 Rohingya refugees, of which more than half are children.
Risky journeys, some deadly outcomes
A mostly Muslim ethnic minority from Myanmar, Rohingyas have fled their country since 2017 to escape persecution and violence, seeking refuge in neighbouring nations like Bangladesh, Thailand, and Indonesia.
The exodus increased after the 2021 military coup in Myanmar. However, the Rohingyas’ quest for safety and protection has not always borne fruit elsewhere either.
Due to the poor living conditions in the rehabilitation camps in Bangladesh, many Rohingya refugees risk taking to the seas in order to escape to better living conditions. Not only has the number of journeys surged since 2018, they have also become “deadlier”, according to the 2021 UNHCR report cited earlier.
This year, too, has already seen multiple tragedies at sea. In October, for instance, three refugees died and 20 went missing after the boat carrying them sank off the Bangladesh coast. In May, 17 Rohingyas, including children, reportedly died when their boat capsized off the coast of Myanmar.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)
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