Rohingya refugees among over 500 feared dead after Myanmar boats capsize
The UN warned on Thursday that more than 500 people were feared dead following reports of two large shipwrecks off Myanmar since late June. The UN's International Organization for Migration and its refugee agency UNHCR voiced alarm at reports that two boats carrying more than 500 people may have capsized off the coast of Myanmar in recent days.
The United Nations warned on Thursday that more than 500 people were feared dead following two large shipwrecks off Myanmar since late June. The UN's International Organization for Migration and its refugee agency, UNHCR, voiced alarm in a joint statement over reports that two boats carrying more than 500 people may have capsized off the coast of Myanmar in recent days.
Preliminary information indicates that the two vessels departed from war-torn Myanmar's Rakhine state in late June. The region has long been associated with violence and displacement affecting the Rohingya minority.
Aid organizations say confirmed information about the fate of those lost at sea has not yet been obtained, and that search and rescue efforts have been complicated by security conditions in the area. UN officials called for increased regional cooperation to prevent similar tragedies from recurring.
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