More than 500 feared dead after reports of boats capsizing off Myanmar

Al Jazeera:

Two boats carrying more than 500 people are feared to have capsized off the coast of Myanmar in recent days, United Nations agencies have said.

According to preliminary information reported on Thursday by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), the two vessels departed from Myanmar’s Rakhine State in late June carrying mostly Rohingya passengers.

One boat, believed to have been carrying about 250 people, lost contact shortly after departure. A second boat, reportedly carrying some 280 people, is believed to have sunk off Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady coast on July 8, they said.

“While the incidents and casualty figures have yet to be officially confirmed, UNHCR and IOM are gravely concerned by the potentially devastating loss of life,” read the statement.

Before the latest incidents, more than 300 people had been killed or reported missing in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal, it said. These included Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals, it added.

″While the incidents and casualty figures have yet to be officially confirmed, UNHCR and IOM are gravely concerned by the potentially devastating loss of life,” the agencies said.

The Rohingya, who have in recent years fled both Myanmar and Bangladesh’s refugee camps by the thousands, typically avoid such boat journeys at this time of year, when monsoons are frequent, and conditions at sea are particularly dangerous. The UNHCR and IOM noted this in their statement, saying that recent torrential rain and flooding across the region would have made such journeys especially risky.

About 1.2 million stateless, predominantly Muslim Rohingya remain in overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh after fleeing waves of violence by Myanmar’s security forces. Steep cuts to foreign aid by the US and other countries have led to ration cuts in the camps.