Rohingya refugees are rescued by Indonesian fishermen. (File)
New Delhi:
The number of Rohingya fleeing Myanmar or Bangladesh by sea has increased five-fold to more than 3,500 in 2022 from a year earlier, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday, in the deadliest year for with this ethnic group since 2014.
At least 348 Rohingya died or went missing when they tried to cross the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal last year, with an alarming number following a boat wreck in December, with all 180 Rohingya Muslims on board. is presumed dead. UNHCR said in a statement.
“They make perilous journeys at sea in search of protection, security, family reunification and livelihoods in other countries. The growing desperation in Myanmar and Bangladesh seems to have driven the numbers. undertaking an increasing number of sea voyages by 2022,” the agency said.
The Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim minority group who have lived in Myanmar for centuries but have been denied citizenship in the Buddhist-majority country since 1982, are considered illegal immigrants. law from South Asia.
Nearly 1 million Rohingya from Myanmar are also living in crowded facilities in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, including tens of thousands of people who fled Myanmar after the country’s military launched a mass protest. deadly pressure in 2017.
UNHCR said most of the boats carrying the Rohingya departed from Myanmar and Bangladesh, and those on board mainly left Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh.
In 2014, an estimated 700 people were killed or missing, with nearly 60,000 taking part in adventurous sea voyages, a UNHCR spokesman told Reuters.
The number of women and children making dangerous journeys at sea has increased 7% last year since 2021 and makes up almost 45% of those who disembark.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
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