Teknaf, Bangladesh: Nearly 250 people, including children among both Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals, are feared missing after their packed boat capsized in the hazardous Andaman Sea, according to AFP.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in a statement, said, “The trawler, which departed from Teknaf in southern Bangladesh and was on its way to Malaysia, reportedly sank due to heavy winds, rough seas, and overcrowding.”
Each year, thousands of Rohingyas — Myanmar’s oppressed Muslim minority — embark on deadly sea journeys in flimsy boats to escape repression and civil war, fleeing vast camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar where over a million, displaced from Rakhine, endure dire conditions.
Survivors Pulled From Sinking Chaos
While details of the incident remain murky, initial reports indicate the boat held around 280 people and set off from Bangladesh on April 4.
Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) ships rescued nine survivors, including a woman, on April 9; a vessel bound for Indonesia spotted them clinging to drums and logs in deep waters near the Andaman Islands, BCG spokesman Lieutenant Commander Sabbir Alam Sujan told AFP.
The Daily Star reported the group was transferred to BCG patrol ship Mansur Ali around midnight.
Traffickers’ Horrors Revealed
Survivor Rafiqul Islam, 40, shared with AFP how traffickers enticed him onto the boat with Malaysian job offers, then locked him with 20-25 others in brutal conditions at a house in Teknaf’s Kachhopia union’s Rajarchhara area, beating escape attempts, according to The Daily Star.
“A number of us were kept in the holding area of the trawler, and some died there. I was burned by oil that spilled from the trawler,” said Rafiqul, 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.”
The load grew to roughly 280—13 crew and traffickers, 21 Rohingya women, four children, about 150 Rohingya, rest Bangladeshis—after leaving near Myanmar’s Shamila (by St Martin’s Island) on April 8 in rough weather, Rafiqul said.
Traffickers herded them into four cramped fish holds, causing 25-30 suffocation deaths from overcrowding; he survived gripping a two-litre bottle, rescued with eight others on April 9, unsure of others’ fates.
UNHCR Spotlights Rohingya Exile Perils
The UNHCR noted the latest incident reflected the “dire consequences of protracted displacement and the absence of durable solutions for the Rohingya.” The agency added that the tragedy serves as a reminder of the efforts that are urgently needed to address the root causes of displacement in Myanmar and create conditions that would permit Rohingyas to return home voluntarily and safely.
Last year, the UNHCR said that 427 Rohingya were feared dead at sea in two shipwrecks off the Myanmar coast in May.
