About 250 Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals, including children, are missing after their boat capsized last week in the Andaman Sea in the northeastern Indian Ocean, UN refugee and migration agencies have reported, the BBC reports.
The trawler, a modified fishing vessel, had left Bangladesh and was heading for Malaysia.
It “would have sunk due to strong winds, rough seas and overcrowding,” UN agencies said. It is not clear when exactly the boat overturned.
The Bangladesh Coast Guard told AFP news agency that one of its vessels rescued nine people from the boat on April 9.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, one of Myanmar's many ethnic minorities, have fled across the border into Bangladesh since a deadly crackdown in 2017.
The Rohingya, who are mainly Muslim, are denied citizenship by the government of Myanmar, a Buddhist-majority country.
However, poor living conditions in Bangladesh have led some Rohingya to make dangerous journeys on overcrowded boats to Malaysia, a Muslim country considered by some to be a safe haven in the region.
“This tragic incident reflects the serious consequences of prolonged displacement and the absence of durable solutions for the Rohingya,” the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a joint statement with the International Organization for Migration.
These vessels are often small and cramped, lacking basic amenities such as fresh water and sanitation. I don't always reach my destinations. Some die at sea, while others are sometimes detained or deported. Some were also turned away as they approached Malaysia and Indonesia, either by the authorities or by local coastal communities.
