Nearly 900 Rohingya refugees reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea, Bay of Bengal
\n Geneva
\nNearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal in 2025, making it the deadliest year on record for the route, the United Nations refugee agency said on Friday.
\nMore than one in seven of the estimated 6,500 Rohingya refugees who attempted the sea crossing last year were reported missing or dead, the highest mortality rate worldwide for refugee and migrant sea journeys, UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva.
\nThe dangerous sea crossings have continued into 2026, with more than 2,800 Rohingya embarking on such journeys up until April 13 this year, Baloch said.
\n\u201cThis sad and tragic trend continues, this sense of desperation among the Rohingya population,\u201d he said.
\nDeadly maritime journeys have become a recurring feature of a long-running humanitarian crisis resulting from conflict in Myanmar, as members of the Rohingya Muslim minority continue to risk their lives on overcrowded, unseaworthy boats in search of safety and opportunity.
\nTheir departures are driven by violence at home and desperate conditions in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh. They hope to reach safety and opportunity in countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia or Thailand.
\nIn recent years, more than half of those attempting these crossings have been women and children, UNHCR said.
\nThis week, the UN refugee and migration agencies said around 250 people were missing after a boat that departed from Teknaf in southern Bangladesh carrying Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals capsized in the \u200bAndaman Sea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nearly 900 Rohingya refugees reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea, Bay of Bengal Geneva Nearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal in 2025, making it the deadliest year on record for the route, the United Nations refugee agency said on Friday. More than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542435,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-542404","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n