Rohingya Death Toll At Sea Highest In Nine Years, says UNHCR

According to latest estimates from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the number of Rohingya people who died or went missing in 2023 was at its highest since 2014. The consequence of making perilous boat trips to Southeast Asia was ascertained as the reason, and the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal are the deadliest stretches of water in the world.

UNHCR spokesperson said, “Estimates show one Rohingya was reported to have died or gone missing for every eight people attempting the Journey in 2023”. Nearly 4,500 Rohingya people took boat journey across the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal in 2023, fleeing persecution in native Myanmar or crowded refugees’ camps in Bangladesh, UNHCR says.

Rohingya crossed the Sea on barely seaworthy wooden boats. In one instance, a boat capsized in the Andaman Sea, raising the possibility that 200 people may have perished. Others searched for a place to land, spending days at sea.

After a brutal crackdown by the Myanmar military in 2017, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to Bangladesh and living in crowded refugee camps, which is subject of a genocide case at International Court of Justice (ICJ). In Myanmar, those who remained are mainly confined to camps in their native Rakhine State with restrictions on movement and daily lives.

Earlier people who have welcomed the refugees for instance in Indonesia’ Sumatra Island, refused to land their boats and military pushed them back out to sea despite the dreadful conditions on board.

For decades, the Rohingya, an ethnic minority of Muslims, have resided in largely Buddhist Myanmar, which was once known as Burma. The Rohingya are the biggest stateless population in the world, having lived in Myanmar for many generations but not being accepted as an official ethnic group and denied citizenship since 1982.

Rohingya families are denied fundamental rights and protection due to their statelessness, making them particularly susceptible to abuse, exploitation, and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).