Two boats carrying more than 500 people may have capsized off the coast of Myanmar in recent days, UN agencies said on Thursday, as refugees from the war-torn country continue to make perilous maritime journeys in search of safety and better opportunities.
“According to preliminary information, the two vessels departed from Myanmar’s Rakhine State in late June carrying mostly Rohingya passengers, reportedly including some who had travelled from refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh,” the International Organization for Migration and the UN Refugee Agency said in a joint statement, saying more than 500 were feared dead.
“While the incidents and casualty figures have yet to be officially confirmed, UNHCR and IOM are gravely concerned by the potentially devastating loss of life.”
Members of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority for years have risked their lives on flimsy wooden vessels, driven by violence at home and desperate conditions in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh, hoping to reach safety and opportunity in countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia or Thailand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two boats carrying more than 500 people may have capsized off the coast of Myanmar in recent days, UN agencies said on Thursday, as refugees from the war-torn country continue to make perilous maritime journeys in search of safety and better opportunities.“According to preliminary information, the two vessels departed from Myanmar’s Rakhine State in late […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n