At least a dozen refugees are in “critical condition” and one “person has died,” according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. They are Rohingya, thousands of whom leave Burma every year, where they are persecuted.
The UN on Saturday, December 23 asked for help from 185 people, mostly women and children, on a ship in distress in the Indian Ocean.
About 70 people on board were children, while 88 were women, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement, adding that the ship was near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, in the Indian Ocean.
“At least a dozen of them are reported to be in critical condition and one person is believed to be dead,” he added. “Many other people could have died (…) without being rescued in time. »
Rohingya are persecuted in Burma
UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch told AFP the agency had contacted and urged all authorities in coastal states in the region to rescue the migrants, believed to be Rohingya.
“It's a really sad situation,” he said.
Thousands of Rohingya, mostly Muslims, who are persecuted in Burma, make the risky sea journey every year from Burma and refugee camps in Bangladesh to try to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.
More than 2,000 Rohingya are believed to have made the risky journey to Southeast Asian countries in 2022, according to the UNHCR.
And since last year, more than 570 people, including Rohingya refugees, have been reported dead or missing at sea in the region, according to the statement.
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