After weeks of being in a rickety boat, dozens of Rohingya refugees were found on a beach in Indonesia.
The UN refugee agency stated that at least 180 Rohingyas who fled Bangladesh last month are now in danger of drowning at sea.
Their deaths would make 2022 the most difficult year for members of the Muslim minority group. They face persecution in Myanmar, and are subject to miserable conditions in Bangladeshi refugee camp camps.
According to the UN High Commissioner For Refugees (UNHCR), the “unseaworthy boat” went missing at sea and likely sank.
The agency posted a tweet on Saturday saying that relatives had lost contact. “Those who are not in touch with others presume that all are dead.”
Locals told authorities that the group of 58 hungry and weak men arrived in Aceh, a province located at the northwest tip of Sumatra Island.
Their boat was deposited on Indra Patra beach, Ladong village.
Over one million Rohingya refugees live in camps in Bangladesh. This includes tens of thousands who fled Myanmar in 2017 after the military launched a brutal crackdown.
Most Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar are considered illegal immigrants and denied citizenship because they are Buddhist-majority.
This year, nearly 200 Rohingya have been reported missing or dead at sea.
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Help for Rohingya refugees stranded at Sea – Plea
More than 100 people have been rescued from the seashores month after month.
2013 is believed to be the most deadly year for Rohingya refugees.
In that year, nearly 900 Rohingya disappeared or died in the Andaman Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Bay of Bengal between Myanmar, Bangladesh and India.
An estimated 700 people died or were missing in 2014
Rights groups estimate that the number of Rohingya fleeing Bangladesh by boat has increased fivefold over the past year.
In a bloody coup, the military took control in Myanmar last year. This forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
Myanmar’s security forces have been accused of mass murders, rapes, and killings of Rohingyas and burning thousands of their homes.