Greater than 3,500 Rohingya refugees risked the harmful sea crossing to flee Myanmar or Bangladesh final 12 months.
The UN says there was an “alarming” rise within the variety of Rohingya refugees misplaced at sea fleeing their Myanmar homeland or Bangladesh final 12 months, warning extra would die with out concerted motion.
Greater than 3,500 Rohingya tried sea crossings in 2022, representing an enormous enhance on the 12 months earlier than, when some 700 individuals made comparable journeys, UNHCR, the United Nations refugee company, stated on Tuesday.
“UNHCR has recorded an alarming rise within the loss of life toll. At the least 348 people died or went lacking at sea in 2022, making it one of many deadliest years since 2014,” spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo informed reporters in Geneva.
She stated that 3,040 Rohingya who tried to flee by sea disembarked final 12 months, largely in Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Almost 45 p.c of those that did so have been girls and kids.
“Most boats departed from Myanmar and Bangladesh, highlighting the rising sense of desperation amongst Rohingya in these two nations,” Mantoo stated.
“Those that have disembarked report that they undertook these harmful sea journeys in an effort to seek out safety, safety, household reunification, and livelihoods in different nations,” she stated.
“Amongst them are victims of trafficking, unaccompanied and separated kids, and survivors of sexual- and gender-based violence.”
A number of boats that left in December have been nonetheless at sea as of the top of the 12 months, Mantoo stated, including that one boat was feared to have sunk with about 180 individuals on board.
‘A disaster of solidarity’
A army crackdown in Myanmar in 2017 despatched lots of of hundreds of largely Muslim Rohingya fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh with harrowing tales of homicide, rape and arson.
Myanmar is on trial for genocide on the UN’s high courtroom over the mass exodus.
Mantoo stated calls by UNHCR to maritime authorities to rescue and disembark individuals in misery have gone unheeded, with many boats adrift for weeks.
“The present disaster within the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea is a disaster of solidarity,” she stated.
UNHCR has known as for a full regional response, addressing human trafficking, search and rescue efforts and help in nations the place Rohingya refugees disembark.
It additionally needed to see efforts to handle the foundation causes of why Rohingya are fleeing Myanmar.
Mantoo stated that with out such a response, “extra individuals will die on the excessive seas” as individuals undertake harmful journeys looking for security.
The UNHCR assertion got here as Human Rights Watch alleged that Rohingya refugees have been struggling widespread abuse by the hands of an elite Bangladesh police unit.
The Armed Police Battalion is engaged within the rampant extortion, harassment and wrongful arrests of Rohingya refugees it has been tasked with defending, the US-based rights group stated on Tuesday.
The unit has been working in camps housing practically a million Rohingya since 2020.
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