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Rohingya refugees try to reach Indonesia in boats like this
Photo:
CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN / AFP
Around 180 Rohingya refugees have been floating on a boat in the Indian Ocean for several weeks.
Her relatives are now assuming her death.
'The relatives have lost contact.
We hope (...) that this is not the case, "said the UN refugee agency UNHCR on Twitter on Sunday and expressed its condolences to the families.
“We reiterate our appeals to states in the region to save lives.
This has to be a priority.«
Thousands of the Rohingya minority, who are mostly Muslim and persecuted in Myanmar, make risky crossings from Myanmar or the refugee camps in Bangladesh to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.
The latest boat, carrying around 180 passengers, is said to have sailed last month and was reportedly adrift near Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Indian Andaman Islands and the Straits of Malacca - one of the world's busiest shipping routes.
'We are in danger.
Please save us«
Last week, a resident of a refugee camp in Bangladesh said she spoke to her 23-year-old sister Munuwara Begum, who was on the boat, via walkie-talkie.
'We are in danger.
Please save us," Begum said.
There is neither food nor water on the boat, and there is no rescue in sight.
According to the police, another boat with a defective engine and almost 60 Rohingya on board landed on the Indonesian west coast on Sunday after a month at sea.
According to some reports, more than 100 Rohingya refugees were rescued last week by another boat off Sri Lanka - hundreds of kilometers from Myanmar on the other side of the Bay of Bengal.
col/AFP
