Around 250 missing after Rohingya boat capsizes in Andaman Sea, UN agencies say

Story by Reuters

Around 250 people were missing after a boat carrying Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals capsized in the ​Andaman Sea, the United Nations’ refugee and migration ‌agencies said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

The UN agencies said the trawler carrying around 250 men, women and children reportedly ​sank due to heavy winds, rough seas and overcrowding. ​It had departed from Teknaf in southern Bangladesh ⁠and was bound for Malaysia.

“This tragedy highlights the devastating ​human cost of protracted displacement and the continued absence ​of durable solutions for the Rohingya,” said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the International Organization for Migration.

For years, many ​of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority have embarked on rickety wooden ​boats to try to reach neighbouring countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, ‌in ⁠a bid to flee persecution in Myanmar or overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.

The agencies called on the international community to step up and sustain funding for lifesaving assistance for ​Rohingya refugees in ​Bangladesh as ⁠well as support for Bangladeshi host communities.

In 2017, Myanmar’s armed forces launched an offensive that ​forced at least 730,000 Rohingya from their ​homes and ⁠into neighbouring Bangladesh, where they recounted killings, mass rape and arson. A UN fact-finding mission concluded the 2017 military ⁠offensive ​had included “genocidal acts”.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has denied ​genocide, and says the UN fact-finding mission was not objective or reliable.

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