UNHCR concerned about safety of 56 Rohingya refugees in stormy seas

Rasa - The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says it is worried about the fate of 56 Rohingya refugees sailing on a Malaysia-bound boat in stormy waters off Thailand, as indications suggest that overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh may prompt more Rohingya Muslims to embark on similar journeys across the Andaman Sea.

News ID: 437073

Date: 02 April 2018 - 21:35

RNA - Caroline Gluck, a UNHCR spokeswoman based in southeast Bangladesh, said in an email on Monday that the boat carrying Rohingya refugees had been through difficult weathers after it was restocked at an Island in Thailand a day earlier and continued its journey toward Malaysia.

“Given the poor weather conditions currently prevailing in the waters off the west coast of the Thailand-Malaysia border, we are concerned for the safety of the refugees,” said Gluck, adding, “If they are found to be in distress, we hope they will be rescued and allowed to disembark in accordance with international maritime law.”

The vessel reportedly began its sail last week from the state of Rakhine in western Myanmar, where the government launched a massive new wave of crackdown on Muslims last August over a series of attacks on border and police posts, forcing over 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.

According to Press TV, the 56 are the first group of refugees from the new bout of violence to use the route across the Andaman Sea, as it had been used in previous peaks of violence in 2011 and 2015. There are signs that more refugees could opt to take the risk of taking the rout instead of joining other Rohingya Muslims in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh.

The UNHCR said it was in contact with Malaysia to gain any information about the refugee boat, saying it had informed Malaysian maritime authorities that the organization would provide any necessary assistance to the refugees when they arrived in the country.

The UN has stopped short of officially designating the purge of Muslims from Myanmar as genocide, but it has reiterated that the crackdown, which has seen many people killed, lots of homes and villages torched and women raped by the military and Buddhist mobs, is a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.

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