250 missing after migrant boat sinks in Indian Ocean

About 250 Rohingya and Bangladeshis, including children, are missing after their boat capsized last week in the Andaman Sea, according to the United Nations’ refugee and migration agencies, BBC reported.

The trawler, which had departed from Bangladesh and was bound for Malaysia, “reportedly sank due to heavy winds, rough seas and overcrowding”, the agencies said.

It is unclear when the boat capsized, but on 9 April, a Bangladesh-flagged vessel rescued nine people who were “clinging to drums and wooden debris” to stay afloat, the coast guard said.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, one of Myanmar’s many ethnic minorities, have been fleeing across the border into Bangladesh since a deadly crackdown in 2017.

The Rohingya, who are primarily Muslim, are denied citizenship by the government of Myanmar, a Buddhist-majority country.

Poor living conditions in Bangladesh however have also prompted some Rohingya to make precarious journeys on overcrowded vessels to Malaysia, a Muslim country which some envision to be a safe haven in the region.

Quoting those rescued after last week’s incident, a Coast Guard member, who asked not to be named, told the BBC that they had left Bangladesh for Malaysia on April 4 “in the hope of a better life.”