More than 500, Mostly Rohingya, Feared Dead in Waters Off Myanmar: UN

IQNA – More than 500 people, most of whom belong to the Rohingya Muslim community, are feared dead after two boats carrying them capsized off Myanmar in recent days.

A joint statement issued by the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Thursday said the two vessels departed from Myanmar’s Rakhine state in late June carrying mostly Rohingya passengers, including some who are said to have traveled from refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

One boat, carrying around 250 people, “lost contact shortly after departure,” it said, adding that the second boat, reportedly carrying some 280 people, “is believed to have sunk off Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady coast on 8 July.”

Persecuted at home by Burmese junta and other ethnic groups, Rohingya community members have been fleeing Myanmar to safe places in Bangladesh, Indonesia as well as Myanmar.

Source: Anadolu