(Boat tragedy. Photo Credit: India Today)
More than 500 people fleeing violence in Myanmar are feared dead after two boats went missing in rough waters off the country’s coast, according to two United Nations migration agencies. Reader discretion is advised.
A joint statement issued Thursday by the International Organization for Migration and the UN Refugee Agency said the vessels had set off from Myanmar’s western Rakhine State in late June, carrying mostly Rohingya passengers.
One boat, said to be carrying around 250 people, lost contact shortly after departure, while another, with roughly 280 passengers on board, is believed to have sunk off Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady coast on July 8.
The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim ethnic minority native to Myanmar’s Rakhine state who have endured decades of state-backed persecution and violence, which the United States has classified as genocide.
While over a million Rohingya have crossed into Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, where most remain confined to overcrowded, dire camp conditions, an estimated 630,000 remain in Rakhine, according to Human Rights Watch.
Myanmar has been gripped by civil war for more than five years, since the military junta seized power from the elected government in 2021, with conflict monitoring group ACLED estimating at least 100,000 deaths from the fighting.
Rakhine State is facing a severe humanitarian crisis, worsened by intensifying clashes between the junta and the Arakan Army rebel group, which now controls much of the region, forcing many to attempt dangerous sea crossings in fragile boats to escape the violence.
According to the UN agencies, some of the missing passengers had reportedly travelled to Rakhine from the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.
The journeys reportedly took place outside the “regular sailing season,” when sea conditions tend to be far more hazardous, a risk further heightened by recent heavy rains and flooding across the region.
Just last week, torrential rains triggered fatal mudslides and flooding in Cox’s Bazar, destroying shelters and killing more than a dozen people, including children.
Although the reports of the capsized boats remain unconfirmed, the IOM and UNHCR said they are gravely concerned about the potentially devastating loss of life.
The agencies noted that nearly 300 people have already died or gone missing this year alone in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.
The statement said these incidents reflect the severe toll of prolonged conflict and displacement, as well as the continued absence of lasting solutions for Rohingya communities.
Adding that worsening conditions in Myanmar, combined with limited support and opportunities in Bangladesh’s refugee camps, are pushing growing numbers of people to risk perilous sea journeys in search of safety.
The agencies called for stronger regional and international action to prevent further deaths along what they described as one of the world’s deadliest maritime routes, urging improved search and rescue operations, greater access to asylum and protection, and firmer measures against smuggling and trafficking networks.
