About 150 people in distress on boat off coast of Thailand-NGO
2022.12.07 06:43
About 150 people in distress on boat off coast of Thailand-NGO
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – Activists said on Wednesday that their boat broke down and at least 150 ethnic Rohingya are stranded at sea off Thailand. They added that several may have died and urged the authorities to rescue the survivors.
In order to escape oppression and violence in Myanmar and squalor in Bangladesh refugee camps, many Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority, risk their lives each year by boarding rickety vessels. Numerous people try to reach Malaysia.
Following the deteriorating conditions in the camps and the military coup in Myanmar last year, which brought back the army accused by the United Nations of carrying out a “genocidal” crackdown on Rohingya in 2017, the number of people attempting the perilous journey has increased.
According to Chris Lewa, director of the rights group the Arakan Project, who cited interviews with relatives of passengers, the vessel left Bangladesh at the end of November and began to leak when it was off the coast of Ranong, in southern Thailand.
She added, “They have almost run out of food and water on the boat,” and that men were frantically attempting to extract water from the vessel.
She stated that those on board claimed to have seen a Thai navy vessel, but this did not assist.
Reuters received a phone call from a Thai navy officer stating that the boat had not entered Thai waters and was currently under Indian terror. Because they were not permitted to speak to the media, the officer spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The ship’s precise location remained a mystery.
Siyeed Alam, a Rohingya activist based in Thailand who also claimed to have spoken with relatives of passengers, claimed that some of them had passed away. This was not independently confirmed by Reuters.
He stated, “Their condition is very bad… (they are) emaciated and will die if there is no help.”
On Friday, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) reported that this year’s attempts to cross the Andaman Sea between Myanmar and Bangladesh had experienced a “dramatic increase.” One of the deadliest crossings in the world had attracted at least 1,900 people, six times more than in 2020.
According to the agency, at least 119 people have attempted to travel this year and died.
A UNHCR representative in Thailand stated that the organization was “deeply concerned by the current situation aboard” the boat and was urging Thai authorities to rescue the passengers and assist them in safely disembarking.
After a military crackdown that included mass killings and gang rape in 2017, more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar and settled in sprawling makeshift camps in southern Bangladesh.
The military in Myanmar denied widespread atrocities and stated that soldiers were engaged in a legitimate campaign against insurgents who attacked police posts.
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