Sea-borne Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh believed adrift in Andaman Sea

Nearly 160 Rohingya refugees who’ve fled from camps in Bangladesh are actually believed adrift within the Andaman Sea as their boat’s engine broke down.

One of the refugees managed to contact the Rohingya Human Rights Initiative (RHRI) and provides the coordinates which confirmed the ship drifting southeast of the Andaman Islands in the direction of Aceh in Indonesia.

Since the contact was made on Wednesday, we have now no information of the place they’ve drifted We have appealed to all companies working with such sea-borne refugees to attempt to assist these individuals, RHRI Director Sabber Kyaw Min informed PTI over the cellphone.

However, RHRI’s assertion couldn’t be independently verified by both the Indian Coast Guard or Unified Andamans & Nicobar Command.

The Command’s spokesperson stated by way of WhatsApp: We don’t have any data.

From the placement given by RHRI, it seems that the Rohingya boat is outdoors Indian waters.

The refugees are largely ladies and kids, who quantity 120, and 40 grownup males, stated Min on Friday.

The Rohingya refugees have fled from Kutupalong, the world’s largest refugee camp at Ukhiya in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazaar and Balukali, one other densely populated refugee camp close by.

The refugees are in dire want of meals, water and security, stated Min.

Speaking to PTI over the cellphone, Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan stated, “There are some media reports but I am not aware of any such incident.”

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in a press release made prophetically final week, warned of the risks related to such crossings.

The company stated it warns that makes an attempt at these journeys are exposing individuals to grave dangers and deadly penalties.

Over 1,900 individuals, largely Rohingyas, travelled by sea between January and November this 12 months, in comparison with simply 287 in 2021. The sea-borne refugees embarked from Myanmar and Bangladesh, based on UNHCR.

Tragically, 119 individuals have been reported useless or lacking on these journeys, this 12 months alone, the company stated. Most refugees headed for Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

Rohingya refugees who’ve managed to make their strategy to Indonesia are largely being stored at Lhokseumawe in Indonesia’s Aceh province.

(Only the headline and movie of this report could have been reworked by the Business Standard employees; the remainder of the content material is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)