At least 180 ethnic Rohingya Muslims stranded at sea for weeks are feared to be dead, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Saturday.
The UN agency said it believes that the “unseaworthy” boat carrying the refugees, left Bangladesh in November, and probably capsized and sunk this month.
“Relatives have lost contact [...] Those last in touch presume all are dead,” the UN body said in a Twitter post.
According to The Washington Post, the overloaded boat departed from Cox’s Bazar last month and was heading for Indonesia, a journey of more than 1,000 miles. Passengers hoped to stay there or to head further on to Malaysia, where a large Rohingya population already resides.
"Too many #Rohingya lives have already been lost in maritime crossings.
— UN Geneva (@UNGeneva) December 23, 2022
I urge all governments from the region to develop and coordinate a more humane regional response to those fleeing the junta’s brutal violence, including Rohingya." - @RapporteurUn #Myanmar pic.twitter.com/GUOT8LLchl
However, following engine failure and a severe shortage of food, the captain of the boat sent out distress signals on December 4 with the help of a satellite phone.
“I last spoke with the boat’s captain on 18 December and he told me that at least 12 people on board had died due to a lack of food and water”, said Sham Shur Alom, a Rohingya refugee who works in Malaysia whose wife and two-year-old daughter were on board to join him. “They have only been able to drink water when it rains,” he told The Telegraph.
According to the UN, as many as 20 on board had already died, including children.
Extremely concerned with the perilous situation of a Rohingya families adrift on boats hoping someone will accept them. #Rohingya #humanitarianresponse @CanHCBangladesh @UNHCR_BGD pic.twitter.com/9Ng2xXt7oI
— Lilly Nicholls (@LillyNichollsL) December 18, 2022
The UNHCR had urged countries in the region, including India, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, to help mitigate the humanitarian crisis by sending rescue missions or allowing the boat passengers to disembark on their territory.
The UN’s special rapporteur on Myanmar, Tom Andrews, made the request through a statement Thursday, saying that “the duty to rescue persons in distress at sea is a fundamental rule of international law, is a norm of customary international law and is incorporated in international treaties.”
This was one of a kind event by @TheAzadiProject @rethinkrefugee1 where we all could talk freely on the current situation of the #Rohingya refugees in India. We touched upon bride trafficking, illegal detention, Islamaphobia, racism, patriarchy etc. pic.twitter.com/suA5fxgV7j
— Pari Saikia (@parisaikia02) December 18, 2022
Refugees and their relatives themselves have also made desperate calls for help.
“Please,” said Mohammad Rezuwan Khan, whose sister and niece were onboard. “I ask the international community to not let them die. Rohingya are human beings,” he pleaded. “Our lives matter.”
Acting on an intel, #RPF along with #GRP detained three illegal Rohingya immigrants (a man & two women) travelling by Tripura Sundari Express from Agartala railway station.
— RPF INDIA (@RPF_INDIA) December 23, 2022
Later, all were booked under Foreign National Act. We play our role in curbing illegal immigration too. pic.twitter.com/ZdfP3U4C4i
Despite this, as of Friday, no country has dispatched help or indicated any intention of doing so, activists say.
The boat had been originally reported near the Nicobar Islands, potentially in Indian waters. To this end, Priyali Sur, founder of the Azadi Project, a New Delhi-based NGO that supports refugees, said she had made appeals to India’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in recent weeks, calling on the government to dispatch rescuers. However, as of last Thursday, Sur said she had not received any confirmation from New Delhi.
“The fact is that none of these countries wants to take them,” she said. “We’ve seen this again and again with refugee communities,” Sur noted.
In fact, a spokesperson for the Indian Navy told the media that it had “no information about the issue.”
International humanitarian law requires the rescue of people at sea when they are in distress, and their delivery to a place of safety. Further delays to alleviate this suffering or any attempts to send Rohingya back to Myanmar where they face apartheid are unconscionable.
— Amnesty India (@AIIndia) December 21, 2022
Despite the evident perils of such a journey, the UNHRC has reported a significant spike in departures. This year alone, around 2,000 people have tried to cross the Andaman Sea from Bangladesh or Myanmar—about six times the number in 2020.
The news comes after the Indian government, in August, had vowed to shift over 1,100 Rohingya refugees to the Bakkarwala area in New Delhi and provide housing, basic essentials, and police protection.
Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri remarked on Twitter that the “landmark decision” was made in pursuance of India’s policy of welcoming all those that seek refuge in the country.
112 Rohingya being arrested again today by the junta’s navy near Kadone Kani, Bogalay, while they are proceeding to Malaysia. This is on top of 3 boats floating in sea. pic.twitter.com/6gbvLR3R4d
— Aung Kyaw Moe (@akmoe2) December 20, 2022
Puri reaffirmed India’s commitment to the United Nations Refugee Convention, which mandates countries to provide refuge irrespective of race, religion, or creed. He added that the decision would disappoint those spreading false information about the Indian refugee policy and the 2019 Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), which provides minority religious communities in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, including Hindus and Christians, with Indian citizenship.
Opposition leaders and rights groups have previously criticised the law for singling out Muslims and excluding them from the law.
Around one million Rohingya have sought refuge in neighbouring countries like Bangladesh. However, for decades now, both Bangladesh and Myanmar have refused to acknowledge them as citizens and each insists that they are “illegal immigrants” of the other, effectively rendering them stateless. The community has also been trying to gain refuge in India, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia for years.
The one claimed to be in the strait of Malacca remains un - recused.
— Aung Kyaw Moe (@akmoe2) December 18, 2022
Around 40,000 Rohingya Muslims live in camps and slums around India—with high concentrations in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, and New Delhi—and it is thought that many of them are undocumented.