Humanitarian workers in Myanmar revealed that at least 17 Rohingya people have died, with 30 still missing after a boat capsized due to adverse weather conditions in the Bay of Bengal earlier this week. Volunteers stated that eight individuals were rescued from the boat, which was headed to Malaysia, a preferred destination for thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution and poverty in Myanmar and Bangladesh. The boat's departure point remains unclear.
Ming Tal Wah, head of the "Shwe Yaung Mita" Rescue Foundation, said, "We started finding bodies on August 7." He added, "We found 17 bodies over three days, in addition to some survivors," noting that among the deceased were ten women. An aid worker from the Rohingya community in Maungdaw, near the Bangladesh border, reported that the boat set sail despite poor weather, and about 500 others still hope to cross to Malaysia.
Around one million Rohingya live in crowded conditions in Bangladesh, some of them having fled a deadly crackdown in 2017 by the Myanmar military, which denies committing crimes against humanity. An unknown number have perished at sea due to illness, hunger, and exhaustion while attempting to reach Malaysia and Indonesia, both of which have Muslim majorities, in rickety boats.
