The UN denounced on Tuesday January 17 the “
alarming
” increase in the number of Rohingya refugees lost at sea after fleeing Burma or Bangladesh and warned that even more of them will die without concerted action in the region.
“
UNHCR has recorded an alarming increase in the death toll.
At least 348 people died or went missing at sea in 2022, making it one of the deadliest years since 2014
,” the spokeswoman said UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo during a press briefing in Geneva.
Persecution of the Rohingyas
Last year, more than 3,500 Rohingya tried to flee Burma, where the minority is persecuted by the ruling junta, or to leave Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands of them have found refuge, Shabia Mantoo said. .
According to her, 3,040 Rohingyas who had taken to the sea had landed last year, mainly in Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh.
Nearly 45% of those who did were women and children.
“
Most of the boats left from Burma and Bangladesh, underscoring the growing desperation among the Rohingya in those two countries
,” Shabia Mantoo said.
"
Those who have disembarked explain that they undertook these dangerous sea voyages with the aim of finding protection, safety, family reunification and livelihoods in other countries
," the spokesperson said.
Charge of genocide
The Rohingyas, Muslims and although settled in Burma for generations, are still considered as intruders in the country, of which they do not have the nationality, nor the same rights as the other inhabitants, in particular to travel.
A procedure against Burma, accused of genocide by The Gambia, is underway before the highest judicial body of the United Nations.
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Hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingyas fled a bloody crackdown by the Burmese army in 2017 to find refuge in camps in neighboring Bangladesh.
Shabia Mantoo said UNHCR's appeals to maritime authorities to rescue those in distress and let them disembark had gone unheeded, with many boats adrift for weeks.
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"
The current crisis in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea is a crisis of solidarity
," she said.
UNHCR is calling for a coordinated regional response that also addresses the causes that drive these people to flee.
Without it, "
more people will die on the high seas
", warned Shabia Mantoo.
