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‘Left to die’: Fates of 5 Rohingya boats across Asia spotlight enduring crisis of stateless Muslim minority
- Since 2020, more than 3,000 Rohingya Muslims have attempted the journey from Bangladesh by sea, according to the UN
- Advocates fear that interest in their plight is waning, after regional officials were slow to respond to calls by rights groups to help the vessels
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From the refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, Rohingya activist Mohammed Rezuwan Khan watched for weeks in hope and dread as the fishing boats carrying his sister and niece drifted south without sufficient food, water or safe harbour, but targeting a fresh start thousands of kilometres away.
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Their boat was one of at least five to set out in late November, Khan said, in information backed up by the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Each boat met a different end, reflecting the dice roll Rohingya Muslims must endure to gain some control over their lives.
One boat was rescued far off course by Sri Lanka’s navy on December 18. Ten days earlier, another boat was prevented from sinking by a Vietnamese flagged vessel, but the Vietnamese authorities handed passengers to authorities in Myanmar, the country they originally fled.
A third is feared to have capsized, with its estimated 180 passengers – including women and children – presumed dead.
But two made it to their destination: the Indonesian province of Aceh – the last one on Monday.
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