• Burmese
Thursday, June 19, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Help Protect Arakan Boat Refugees, Says UN

Lawi Weng by Lawi Weng
November 2, 2012
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
Help Protect Arakan Boat Refugees

Displaced Muslims set out on boats from Thae Chaung Camp

3k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The United Nations refugee agency calls on countries neighboring Bangladesh to coordinate more closely on search and rescue operations after a boat carrying at least 100 people sunk last week.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported on Thursday that an estimated 130 people were on board a boat which sank on its way to Malaysia. Six people were rescued while an unknown number of dead bodies were seen floating in the water after the vessel went down in the Bay of Bengal last Friday.

The survivors were taken to Bangladesh, according to the UNHCR.

RelatedPosts

Bangladeshi Islamist Party Proposes Independent Rohingya State in Myanmar’s Rakhine

Bangladeshi Islamist Party Proposes Independent Rohingya State in Myanmar’s Rakhine

April 28, 2025
2.4k
Myanmar Refugees in Limbo, Thailand in Denial

Myanmar Refugees in Limbo, Thailand in Denial

March 22, 2025
2.7k
Bangladesh Arrests Notorious Rohingya Militant Leader

Bangladesh Arrests Notorious Rohingya Militant Leader

March 19, 2025
1.2k

“We are calling on countries in the region to coordinate more closely on operations for search and rescue at sea, and to jointly seek comprehensive solutions to the root causes of irregular maritime movements while keeping borders open and ensuring access to international protection for people in need,” the agency said in a press release.

Vivian Tan, spokesperson for the UNHCR in Bangkok, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the victims could have been Rohingya Muslims fleeing sectarian violence in western Burma.

“We have not talked to the survivors from the boat yet. Generally, these people are either migrant workers from Bangladesh looking for jobs elsewhere in Southeast Asia or there could be some refugees from Myanmar,” she said.

Advocacy group the Arakan Project, which fights for human rights for Rohingya people in western Burma, reported that some victims from the sunken boat were rescue by local Muslim fishermen on Wednesday.

“Seven people were rescued in the south of Maungdaw Township,” said Chris Lewa, the director of the Arakan Project.

The UNHCR says that the number of refugees fleeing the region by boat had already reached a record high before communal strife erupted in Arakan State in June. An estimated 7,000 to 8,000 people undertook the perilous voyage from the Bay of Bengal between October 2011 and March 2012.

There were at least four reported incidents of boats that ran into technical problems, leaving more than 20 people confirmed dead and over 100 still missing from November 2011 to January this year. There are fears that more irregular boat movements could take place in the Bay of Bengal as the traditional “sailing season” of economic migrants begins in November.

The UNHCR expressed concern over the recent sectarian violence in Arakan State and said that if the unrest is not brought under control, more people could resort to dangerous journeys by sea in search of sanctuary.

“The volatile situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine [Arakan] State risks pushing many more people to leave than in previous years, with potentially destabilizing effects in other countries,” said James Lynch, UNHCR’s Regional Coordinator for Southeast Asia.

To restore law and order in Arakan State, meanwhile, the Burmese government has detained more than 1,000 people who were allegedly involved in the recent violence and even confiscated knives and tools that could be used as weapons from local people.

The government reported on Wednesday that 89 people were killed, 136 injured and at least 32,000 made homeless when more than 5,000 houses were burned down from Oct. 21-30.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Refugees
Lawi Weng

Lawi Weng

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Myanmar Youth Exodus Feared in Wake of Junta’s Conscription Law
Burma

Myanmar Youth Exodus Feared in Wake of Junta’s Conscription Law

by The Irrawaddy
February 15, 2024
15.7k

Activists warn of increased labor rights violations in Thailand and human trafficking as young people flee to avoid mandatory military...

Read moreDetails
By Almost Every Measure, Myanmar Junta Ranks Among World’s Worst Regimes
Analysis

By Almost Every Measure, Myanmar Junta Ranks Among World’s Worst Regimes

by Khin Nadi
February 2, 2024
10.8k

The Irrawaddy unpacks the regime’s three-year track record of violence and rights abuses, as assessed by leading global organizations and...

Read moreDetails
Karen Ethnic Army Launches Final Push to Capture Myawaddy on Thai Border
Burma

Karen Ethnic Army Launches Final Push to Capture Myawaddy on Thai Border

by The Irrawaddy
April 9, 2024
10.3k

The KNLA and PDF groups launched an attack on the last junta battalion defending Myawaddy on Tuesday afternoon and were...

Read moreDetails
Illegal Entry Arrests Surge in Thailand Amid Forced Military Conscription in Myanmar
Myanmar’s Crisis & the World

Illegal Entry Arrests Surge in Thailand Amid Forced Military Conscription in Myanmar

by Brian Wei
May 30, 2024
9.4k

More than half of the soaring number of people being detained at the border said they were fleeing conscription, a...

Read moreDetails
Clashes Resume on Thai-Myanmar Border
Burma

Clashes Resume on Thai-Myanmar Border

by AFP
April 20, 2024
7k

Myanmar junta troops near the Second Friendship Bridge to Thailand are holding out against anti-regime forces.

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Causes Thailand Problems
Guest Column

Myanmar Junta Causes Thailand Problems

by Paul Greening
March 7, 2024
6.8k

The multiple crises on Thailand’s border sparked by the Myanmar junta’s failed coup could present opportunities for Bangkok, but so...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
New Burmese Passports to be Valid for Five Years

New Burmese Passports to be Valid for Five Years

Burma's Parliament Passes Long-awaited FDI Bill

Burma's Parliament Passes Long-awaited FDI Bill

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

China is Systematically Dismantling Tibetan Monastic Traditions

China is Systematically Dismantling Tibetan Monastic Traditions

3 days ago
1.6k
China’s Bet on Myanmar Junta Risks Backfiring

China’s Bet on Myanmar Junta Risks Backfiring

2 days ago
1.6k

Most Read

  • On Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Birthday, Recalling the Cake That Rattled the Junta

    On Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Birthday, Recalling the Cake That Rattled the Junta

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Bago Resistance Claims 20 Myanmar Junta Personnel Killed

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Global Campaign Reaches Goal to Honor Aung San Suu Kyi on Her 80th Birthday

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • KIA, Junta Troops Continue Battle for Control of Myanmar’s Jade Hub

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ADB Announces Record $100m Quake Aid Package for Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.