More than a hundred Rohingya refugees could have died in a shipwreck in the Indian Ocean, according to the UN

180 Rohingya refugees could have died this month in the waters of the Indian Ocean when the ship carrying them sank after several weeks of drifting, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimated this Sunday.

Citing unconfirmed reports, the agency has indicated that the refugees boarded an "unseaworthy" ship in November and have not been heard from since.

“Relatives have lost contact,” UNHCR wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

"The last who knew of them estimate that they are all dead."

Persecuted in their predominantly Buddhist country of origin, Myanmar, the Rohingya, who are predominantly Muslim, have been seeking refuge outside their country for several decades, especially in neighboring Muslim-majority Bangladesh.

This exodus has intensified after in 2017 the military regime unleashed a violent repression against the Muslim minorities of the former Burma.

However, the more than one million Rohingyas living in Bangladesh are causing problems in their host country, due to a lack of jobs and future possibilities.

This leads many refugees to seek alternative escape routes by sea to countries like Malaysia, also with a Muslim majority but more prosperous.

Last week, two groups of Myanmar Rohingya activists said up to 20 people died of hunger or thirst on a ship that was stranded at sea for two weeks off the coast of India.

The boat with at least 100 people was said to be in Malaysian waters.

Earlier this month, the Sri Lankan navy rescued 104 Rohingya adrift off the northern coast of the Indian Ocean island.

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