Rohingya Refugees Forced Into Deadly Sea Crossings as Aid Cuts Leave Thousands Desperate
Survivor recounts two days adrift after boat with nearly 300 aboard capsized in Andaman Sea, leaving 250 missing
Quick Look
- A 26-year-old Rohingya refugee survived a deadly boat disaster in the Andaman Sea this month after her overcrowded vessel with nearly 300 people aboard capsized, leaving 250 missing and feared dead.
- Rahila Begum was rescued by a Bangladeshi oil tanker after spending two days clinging to wooden debris.
- Thousands of Rohingya in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar camps are undertaking increasingly dangerous sea crossings to Indonesia and Malaysia as shrinking international food aid forces more to flee desperate conditions.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Nearly 1.2 million Rohingya Muslims live in camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, many having fled persecution and fighting in Buddhist-majority Myanmar where they are accused of being outsiders. International food aid has been dwindling, pushing more refugees to risk dangerous sea journeys.
Rohingya refugee Rahila Begum spent two days adrift in the Andaman Sea this month, clinging to a wooden shard after her overcrowded boat capsized, one of the few survivors of a disaster that left 250 missing and feared dead.
She was among the thousands of Rohingya Muslims who brave hunger and accidents on rickety boats each year to flee desperate conditions in camps in southeastern Bangladesh for countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.
Hundreds die en route from hunger or accidents at sea, but the numbers keep growing as shrinking food rations caused by dwindling international aid push yet more to make the dangerous crossing.
“I never thought I would survive,” said Begum, her voice thready from fever and aches as she sat, wrapped in a blanket, on a thin mat in her parents' shack thrown together from tarpaulin sheets. “It felt like the end of my life.”
The 26-year-old was rescued by a passing Bangladeshi oil tanker after her boat, with nearly 300 aboard, sank this month on its way to Malaysia and later handed to the country's coastguard.
Bangladesh's coastal district of Cox's Bazar is home to nearly 1.2 million Rohingya, many of whom fled persecution and fighting in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where they are accused of being outsiders.
Open Questions
- What specific aid cuts are causing the food ration reductions
- How many successful crossings have been made this year
- What are Malaysia and Indonesia's policies on Rohingya refugees
