Hundreds Stranded In Frigid Waters As Rohingya Refugees Seek Shelter – The Organization for World Peace

Over the last week of December, hundreds of Rohingya Muslims fleeing desperate conditions either landed in Indonesia or remain reportedly stuck at sea. One boat carrying 174 people arrived in the Aceh province of Sumatra last Monday. Most of those onboard were in need of urgent medical care and were brought to temporary shelter, but many faced hunger and major dehydration, with 20 passengers dying along the way. The survivors explained that they are seeking education because that opportunity has not yet been provided to them in Bangladesh.

According to Reuters, almost 500 Rohingya seeking refuge have arrived in Indonesia in the past six weeks. However, many boats have also been found stranded off the coast. The journey from Bangladesh to Indonesia can take up to 40 days by boat, with the unfit boats and vessels being used to flee making the trip especially dangerous. Exemplifying the desperate situation, Thai authorities found six people holding on to a water tank in the Andaman Sea. According to Reuters, Malaysia had denied their original boat and told them to go back to Bangladesh. When refugees are not denied entrance to Malaysia, Al Jazeera reports, they are met with detention upon arrival.

The United Nations reports that the refugees’ sea journeys put them at risk of criminal exploitation, which can include human trafficking, gender-based violence, and other violations that only perpetuate the miserable conditions the Rohingya have faced at home, where the Muslim minority group has continually faced persecution and violence at the hands of Buddhist-majority Burmese.

According to Al Jazeera, more than 700,000 Rohingya were forcibly displaced from Myanmar in August 2017, which the United Nations called an “international crime.” The nation’s military removed the Rohingya to refugee camps in Bangladesh as part of a response, it said, to an attack by a rebel group. The 2021 military coup only perpetuated Myanmar’s civil unrest and has made it evident, the U.N. says, that conditions are not safe for the Rohingya to return.

Around 1 million Rohingya are currently living in Bangladeshi refugee camps, which are overcrowded and unfit to provide the Rohingya with a better life. Bangladesh has hosted Rohingya refugees for the last five years without consistent help from the greater international community. However, as Bangladeshi refugee camps become overcrowded and more Rohingya search for education and health care opportunities, people have begun to flee over the water. Rohingya within Bangladesh are not given access to citizenship, healthcare, or education, Reuters says, and must receive special permission to travel.

While Bangladesh has provided shelter to many of these refugees, receiving praise from the United Nations, conditions still do not provide access to basic human rights, and the Rohingya continue to search for a place where they will be allowed to thrive.

Tom Andrews, a reporter on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, encouraged governments in South and Southeast Asia to “immediately and urgently coordinate search and rescue and ensure safe disembarkation of those abroad before any further loss of life occurs.” The United Nations has encouraged the surrounding countries to aid those who are seeking refuge. Bangladeshi authorities, meanwhile, have begun making efforts to stop those attempting the dangerous journey.

The United Nations refugee agency continues to call on neighboring countries to play an active role in improving the situation and the Rohingya’s quality of life. These people have long faced persecution and are merely seeking basic human rights and refuge, but without intervention and a comprehensive solution, more of their lives will be lost at sea. The international community must step up and welcome our fellow human beings home.