'2020 deadliest year for refugee journeys in Bay of Bengal, Andaman Sea'

By Gozde Bayar

ANKARA (AA) – The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Thursday that 2020 was the deadliest year on record for refugee journeys in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.

“We see once again increasing movements of Rohingya refugees in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. We know their voyages are becoming more deadly. The longer a ship remains at sea, the more refugees are exposed to life-threatening risks,” the UNHCR revealed in a report “Left Adrift at Sea: Dangerous Journeys of Refugees Across the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.”

The Andaman Sea lies southeast of the Bay of Bengal, south of Myanmar, west of Thailand, and east of India's Andaman, and the Nicobar Islands.

Underlining that a total of 3,046 Rohingya attempted to cross the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal from January 2020 to June 2021, it said more than two-thirds of those traveling are women and children.

“In contrast to earlier periods where most of those traveling were men, the majority of passengers are now women and children. They are at even greater risk of abuse by smugglers when making such journeys. Their ordeal was made worse because safe harbors to end their dangerous journey were nowhere to be found,” it added.

In 2020, an estimated 2,413 people are confirmed to have taken the sea journey and 218 died or went missing at sea, it said.

“In 2021, movements are continuing, and will likely continue until there is a lasting solution to the discrimination and violence the Rohingya face in Rakhine State, Myanmar,” it added.

UNHCR urged all states in the region to search for and rescue refugees in distress at sea, and disembark them to a place of safety.

It also recommended the states to work with UNHCR and support fellow countries in the region to implement dignified reception arrangements, provide protection and assistance to refugees who disembark; and address the root causes of refugee maritime movements, including expanding access to safe legal pathways.

Since August 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed, more than 34,000 thrown into fires, over 114,000 beaten and at least 18,000 Rohingya women and girls raped, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).

The Myanmar army’s brutal crackdown in Rakhine state forced more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women, and children, to flee to Bangladesh, pushing the persecuted community’s number in Bangladesh above 1.1 million, according to Amnesty International.