The boat is in distress in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) called on Saturday, December 23, for the rescue of 185 people aboard a drifting boat, near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, in the Indian Ocean, in a press release. A call “to act urgently”address “to regional coastal authorities”.
About 70 of those on board are children, while 88 are women, the UN refugee agency said. “At least a dozen of them are said to be in critical condition and one individual is believed to have died”, “many others could die (…) without being rescued in time”she warns.
A UNHCR spokesperson, Babar Baloch, told Agence France-Presse that the agency was contacting and urging all authorities in coastal countries in the region to rescue the migrants, who are believed to be Rohingya refugees, speaking of a “desperate situation”.
“This situation once again highlights the importance for all States in the region to deploy all their search and rescue capabilities to prevent human disasters of this magnitude from occurring,” further warns the UNHCR in its press release.
Thousands of Rohingya refugees, mostly Muslims, persecuted in Burma, undertake risky maritime journeys each year from Burma and refugee camps in Bangladesh to try to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.
In 2022, more than 2,000 Rohingya are estimated to have attempted this risky journey to countries in Southeast Asia, according to the UNHCR. And since last year, more than 570 people, including Rohingya refugees, have been reported killed or missing at sea in the region, according to the statement.