Relatives of some 180 Rohingya refugees who have been drifting for several weeks in the Indian Ocean have lost contact with the damaged boat and consider them “dead”, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Thousands of Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority in Burma, every year try to leave refugee camps in Bangladesh to reach Malaysia or Indonesia by sea during particularly dangerous crossings.

A “shocking tragedy”

The missing boat, with dozens of women and children on board, is believed to have departed last month and is reported to be in poor condition off the coasts of Thailand, India, then Malaysia and Indonesia.

“Relatives lost touch. Those who were able to contact them last thought that they were all dead. We hope not,” UNHCR tweeted last weekend.

“If true, this is dramatic news. Our thoughts are with the families who will lose loved ones in this shocking tragedy. We repeat our call to countries to save lives. This should be a priority,” he added.

A 23-year-old young woman, Munuwara Begum, who boarded this boat, last week made contact with her family who live in a large camp for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

“We are in danger. Help us”, has launched the young woman, according to the audio recording of the call. “We have no water or food, and no one is saving us from this sinking ship.”

Thousands of Rohingya fled by sea

On Sunday, another wooden boat with a broken engine, the third in two months, arrived in western Indonesia with 57 Rohingya refugees, all men, after a month at sea, local police said.

In December, 104 Rohingya refugees were also rescued from Sri Lanka after crossing the Bay of Bengal, according to media reports.

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The UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) called on countries in the region “to urgently work together to avoid a repeat of the 2015 crisis” when thousands of Rohingya refugees fled by boat, with heavy casualties off the coasts of Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

“The government and its partners have worked successfully together before to find solutions on a regional scale… we are once again calling for urgent regional action.”