Over 500 Rohingya Missing After Boats Depart Myanmar: No Contact Since June 29
Two boats carrying an estimated 530 Rohingya asylum seekers left Myanmar's Rakhine state on 29 June, and no communication has been received since. The boats, typically old fishing trawlers converted to carry as many people as possible, departed from the Arakan Army-controlled village of Sin Tet Maw.
Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, which monitors the situation of Rohingya, has been piecing together information through contacts. She confirmed that both boats left on 29 June, one in the morning and the other later in the day. They were believed to be heading towards the southern coast of Myanmar, where passengers would be transferred to smaller boats to reach land, then transported through Thailand to the Malaysian border.
Families usually expect to hear from their relatives within a week or ten days. Nearly three weeks later, there has been no word. The Bangladesh authorities recovered the body of one woman washed ashore. Fishermen operating between the Irrawaddy delta and the coast of Mon state found several other bodies nine days after departure.
The monsoon season has started, with rough seas. The boats are often barely seaworthy with unreliable engines. However, without confirmed wreckage or survivors, the fate of the passengers remains unknown.
Rakhine state has been in a state of conflict for years. The Arakan Army has driven the Myanmar military out of most areas and is besieging its last stronghold in the state capital Sittwe, now accessible only by air and sea. Almost all telecommunications have been cut, making verification of events difficult.
More than a million Rohingya live in overcrowded camps in southern Bangladesh, where aid is dwindling, jobs are scarce, and organised crime operates freely. They are not permitted to leave the camps.
