Boat carrying over 250 irregular Rohingya, Bangladeshi migrants sinks in Andaman Sea

• Rohingya survivor Rafiqul Islam tells local media that around 280, including 13 crew members and traffickers, were on the boat

A boat carrying over 250 irregular Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants reportedly sank in the Andaman Sea after it left coastal Cox’s Bazar recently for Malaysia, a police official told Anadolu on Tuesday.

The report has come to light after a Bangladeshi vessel rescued nine people from the Indian Ocean on April 9 and handed them to Bangladeshi police, Officer-in-Charge of Teknaf police station Saiful Islam told Anadolu.

However, he did not provide the exact number of those on the boat, saying they were “many."

Of the nine rescued, six are alleged traffickers, and they have been sent to jail, he added.

A case has been filed with the Teknaf Model Police Station in this regard.

According to the charges case, Rohingya and Bangladeshis were being transported illegally to Malaysia on a boat, and it sank due to adverse weather.

Rafiqul Islam, a Rohingya survivor, told local newspaper The Daily Star that around 280, including 13 crew members and traffickers, were on the boat. Of them, around 150 were Rohingya, while the rest were Bangladeshis.

Rafiqul claimed that 25 to 30 people died due to suffocation and overcrowding. The trawler eventually capsized after being hit by large waves, he said.

Earlier, the Bangladesh Coast Guard said a Bangladesh-flagged vessel en route from Chattogram to Indonesia rescued nine people near the Andaman Islands on April 9.

In a joint statement issued on Tuesday, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization of Migration (IOM) in Bangladesh stated that this tragic incident reflects the dire consequences of protracted displacement and the lack of long-term solutions for the Rohingya.

“We urgently call on the international community to step up solidarity and sustain funding to support lifesaving assistance for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh as well as support for the Bangladeshi host communities,” it demanded.

Bangladesh is hosting about 1.3 million Rohingya, mostly fleeing the Myanmar military crackdown in August 2017 and living in the overcrowded Cox’s Bazar camps.

Since then, no official repatriation has occurred due to the Myanmar military junta's opposition, leaving the Rohingya community in Bangladesh deeply frustrated. This has also forced them to embark on perilous sea voyages in order to end their refugee lives.