The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says it is deeply dismayed that repeated calls to rescue and safely disembark people stranded on boats in the Andaman Sea and Strait of Malacca are not being heeded. UNHCR warned in a statement Friday that inaction from states to save lives is resulting in more human misery and tragedies, each and every passing day.
A boat in distress off the coast of Indonesia carrying up to 200 men, women and children, who are Rohingya refugees, have been adrift at sea since late November and is now reportedly in waters around the Strait of Malacca. Several reports indicate that dozens of people have already died during this ordeal, while survivors are hungry and thirsty without access to food and water and many are sick.
UNHCR repeats its appeal to all responsible States to rescue those on the boat and allow them to safely disembark in line with legal obligations and humanitarian traditions. The UN agency says quick action is needed to save lives and avoid further deaths.
For decades, the Rohingya, an ethnic Muslim minority, have faced institutionalized discrimination in Myanmar, such as exclusion from citizenship. In August 2017, the Myanmar government launched a military campaign that forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee their homes in Myanmar’s Rakhine State to Bangladesh. The United Nations called the campaign ethnic cleansing; the United States declared the Myanmar government committed genocide against the Rohingya.
More than a million Rohingya refugees are living currently at the Kutupalong and Nayapara refugee camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar region. An estimated 600,000 Rohingya people, living in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, are unable to move freely and are subject to government persecution and violence. Those Rohingya are now caught in the middle of renewed clashes between Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army, one of several ethnic minority armed groups in Myanmar fighting for autonomy.
Rising despair in Bangladesh’s refugee camps and ongoing violence in Myanmar are driving what the United Nations calls a dramatic increase in ethnic Rohingya risking perilous journeys across the Andaman Sea. Earlier this month, the UNHCR issued a public alert to warn of the sharp rise this year in the number of people, mostly Rohingya, fleeing both Bangladesh and Myanmar by boat. Most head for Malaysia or Indonesia, and many who board the old and overcrowded boats die or are lost along the way.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to assist and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people. The organization is known by its short name the UN Refugee Agency. UNHCR was established on December 14, 1950, by the United Nations General Assembly to provide assistance to refugees resulting from World War II. On January 1, 1951, UNHCR began its work. Each year, the UN Refugee Agency helps millions of refugees and displaced persons worldwide. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the UN agency maintains offices in 134 countries.
Further information
Full text: UNHCR warns delays in rescue in Andaman Sea and Strait of Malacca are costing human lives, UNHCR press release, published December 16, 2022
https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2022/12/639c50cc4/unhcr-warns-delays-rescue-andaman-sea-strait-malacca-costing-human-lives.html
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