Hundreds of Rohingya refugees stuck at sea

Hundreds of Rohingya refugees stranded on two fishing trawlers in the Bay of Bengal.

The two trawlers – carrying an estimated 500 Rohingya women, men and children – are in the Bay of Bengal after being rejected by Malaysia, which has imposed restrictions on all boats in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are increasingly concerned by reports of failure to disembark vessels in distress and of the grave immediate risk this poses to the men, women and children on board,” Indrika Ratwatte, director of the UNHCR Asia-Pacific region, said.

Malaysia had  denied their entry on shore, claiming they had done so to prevent further spread of the coronavirus within the country, which remains under lockdown.

Bangladesh too has refused to allow their entry in the country, drawing criticism from Human rights groups.

On April 23, 2020, Foreign Minister Abdul Momen said the country would refuse entry to more Rohingya: “I am opposed to allowing these Rohingya into the country because Bangladesh is always asked to take care of the responsibility of other countries.”

Bangladesh already hosts nearly a million Rohingya refugees who fled from Rakhine state in Myanmar after mass atrocities of Myanmar’s military. “Bangladesh has shouldered a heavy burden as the result of the Myanmar military’s atrocity crimes, but this is no excuse to push boatloads of refugees out to sea to die,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Bangladesh should continue to help those at grave risk and preserve the international goodwill it has gained in recent years for helping the Rohingya.”

On April 15, Bangladesh coast guard officials rescued a boat of around 400 Rohingya refugees containing mostly women and children, which had reportedly been turned down by Malaysia two months earlier.

At least 30 Rohingya refugees died at sea due to starvation.

“We ran short of food and water,” said Mohammad. “Many children and women were crying. Around 30 people on the boat died because of getting no food and water and and we all started losing hope as the bodies of other refugees had to be thrown into the sea.”

Chris Lewa, of the Arakan Project, which monitors the Rohingya situation, was also quoted recently as saying that the COVID-19 pandemic is “not an acceptable reason” for countries to refuse entry to refugees.

By: Faisal Khan