Rohingya Refugee Boat Capsizes in Andaman Sea, 250 People feared Missing

JAKARTA - The United Nations on Tuesday said that about 250 people, including children, were feared missing after a boat carrying Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals capsized in the Andaman Sea.

"The trawler, which departed from Teknaf in southern Bangladesh and was heading to Malaysia, is reported to have sunk due to strong winds, rough seas, and passenger density," the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement, launching Al Arabiya from AFP (15/4).

The exact circumstances surrounding the latest incident are unclear, but initial information indicates the boat was carrying around 280 people and set off from Bangladesh on April 4.

The Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) said one of its boats, which was heading to Indonesia, managed to rescue nine people from the sea, including a woman, on April 9.

"The Bangladeshi-flagged ship M.T. Meghna Pride saw several people floating in the sea using drums and logs and rescued them from the deep waters near the Andaman Islands," BCG spokesman Lieutenant Commander Sabbir Alam Sujan told AFP.

Meanwhile, Rafiqul Islam, one of the survivors, told AFP he was persuaded to board the boat by smugglers who promised him a job in Malaysia.

"Some of us were detained in the fishing boat shelter area, some died there. I was burned by the oil spilled from the fishing boat," said Rafiqul (40), adding that the ship had been sailing for four days before it capsized.

"We floated for almost 36 hours before a boat rescued us from the deep waters," he said.

Separately, the UNHCR said the latest incident reflected "the dire consequences of protracted displacement and the absence of a sustainable solution for the Rohingya."

"This tragedy is a reminder of the much-needed efforts to address the root causes of displacement in Myanmar and create conditions that allow Rohingya refugees to return home voluntarily, safely, and with dignity," he said.

The Rohingya refugees on the latest boat are likely to have left the massive camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, where more than a million refugees forced to flee Myanmar's western Rakhine state live in squalid conditions.

Thousands of Rohingya refugees, a persecuted Muslim minority in Myanmar, risk their lives every year to flee the repression and civil war in their country. They travel by sea, often in makeshift boats.

Rakhine State has been the site of fierce fighting between the military and the Arakan Army, a minority ethnic rebel group, for control of the region.

Relatively prosperous Malaysia is home to millions of migrants from poor areas of Asia, many of whom are undocumented, working in various industries including construction and agriculture.

But the sea crossings, facilitated by human trafficking syndicates, are dangerous and often cause overloaded boats to capsize.

The Andaman Sea stretches along the west coast of Myanmar, Thailand, and the Malay Peninsula.

Last year, UNHCR said 427 Rohingya were feared dead at sea in two boat accidents off Myanmar in May.