Cox’s Bazar: Twenty-one people, including two teenage girls, have been confirmed dead after a boat carrying dozens of Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar’s impoverished Rakhine state sank in the Andaman Sea near the Thai-Malaysian border. As the rainy season in the region comes to an end, more Rohingya families are contemplating whether to leave Myanmar and Bangladesh, braving dangerous boat journeys in search of a better life.
According to Save the Children, the decision to board these boats is not taken lightly by Rohingya families. There are many push factors, including unsafe conditions, lack of work, and the prospect of a bleak future. The choice to embark on these perilous journeys comes with the knowledge that they may never reach their intended destination. Rohingya children are particularly at risk, often traveling unaccompanied and facing abuse at sea. Unfortunately, some have already met tragic ends.
Save the Children emphasizes the need for regional cooperation and responsibility-sharing to prevent further loss of life and protect vulnerable Rohingya children and families. The organization commends local communities in Malaysia and authorities for their life-saving efforts and calls on all regional governments to allow boats to safely disembark and provide assistance and protection to refugees.
The recent boat incident occurred as conditions for children in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar—the world’s largest refugee camp and home to more than one million Rohingya refugees—continue to deteriorate. Funding cuts have reduced essential services, forcing some Rohingya families to attempt perilous sea journeys in search of better lives. More than one million Rohingya refugees live in overcrowded conditions in Cox’s Bazar, dependent almost entirely on humanitarian aid for survival.
In the first six months of this year, about 1,088 Rohingya refugees embarked on sea journeys from Bangladesh, including around 87 children, compared to 364 people during the same period last year.