According to the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, “it had received unconfirmed reports that the vessel with 180 onboard. They may have died at sea. Relatives have lost contact. Those last in touch presume all are dead. We hope against hope this not the case” said the UN agency on Saturday.
That boat has been reported in waters close to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and India in the Andaman Sea and the Malacca Strait, reported AFP.
We are very disappointed after hearing that 180 Rohingya may have died at sea. We are not free at both sides, in the refugee camps in Bangladesh and Arakan state, said Mr Akram, a Rohingya teacher from the refugee camp in Bangladesh.
On Sunday, 58 carrying with a broken-down boat were landed on Indonesia’s Western coast after a month at sea. Four of them were sick and had been transported to a hospital. Since November, at least five boats had left Cox Bazaar. While one reached Indonesia, and two others were rescued by Sri Lanka and Vietnam, the fate of two remained uncertain for weeks.
The UN said the boat that it fears sank had most likely left Bangladesh around the same time as the one that was rescued by the Sri Lankan Navy last week.
At least 2,500 Rohingya refugee have lost their lives in the dangerous water of the Southeast Asia since 2013, according to UN estimates.
