More than two dozen Rohingya refugees are lacking and feared drowned after a ship capsized within the Bay of Bengal, the United Nations and Bangladeshi police stated on Sunday.
The refugees had been apparently making an attempt to flee a distant Bangladeshi island. Several thousand Rohingya have beforehand relocated to the island after residing in overcrowded camps close to the border with Myanmar.
The relocation has been criticized by the United Nations and human rights teams, who say the island is just not appropriate for habitation. The island was inundated with common monsoon rains, however the authorities now says it’s geared up with protecting sea partitions, hospitals, colleges and mosques.
“On the morning of 14 August, UNHCR was alerted that a boat carrying dozens of Rohingya refugees capsized overnight near Bhasan Char Island,” the UN refugee company stated in a Facebook put up.
“We are devastated that reportedly several passengers including women and children have tragically drowned. The confirmed numbers are not yet known,” it stated.
A police officer within the Noakhali district, the place the island is positioned, advised the Associated Press by cellphone that about 40 refugees, together with ladies and youngsters, had been within the fishing boat, however it sank in unhealthy climate.
On situation of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the difficulty, the official stated the refugees had been “apparently fleeing the island.”
The official stated fishermen rescued not less than 14 refugees and introduced them again to the island.
The United Nations stated native Bangladeshi fishermen arrived on the scene first and alerted the authorities.
“The search and rescue operation is being led by the authorities, particularly the Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard,” the assertion stated.
“We are currently seeking more information from the Bangladesh government and are in contact with refugee communities in both Bhasan Char and Cox’s Bazar in an effort to support the authorities in further rescue efforts,” the company stated.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s authorities, which has sheltered greater than 1.1 million Rohingya refugees from neighboring Myanmar, has relocated some 20,000 refugees to the island from sprawling camps within the Cox’s Bazar district.
The island in Noakhali district was developed by the Bangladesh Navy to accommodate about 100,000 refugees. Officials had earlier stated that they’d relocate them to the island in a phased method.
More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled refugee camps in Bangladesh since August 2017, when the navy in Buddhist-majority Myanmar launched a crackdown on the Muslim ethnic group following an assault by rebels. They be part of a whole lot of hundreds of people that have fled to Bangladesh over the many years.
The 2017 crackdown included rape, killings and setting hundreds of houses on fireplace, and was dubbed ethnic cleaning by international rights teams and the United Nations, whereas Bangladesh and Myanmar have sought to rearrange repatriation, stopping the Rohingya from returning residence. Very scared.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
