At least 17 people have drowned off the coast of Burma after a boat carrying Rohingya migrants trying to flee the country sank, rescue services said on Thursday.
Every year, thousands of Rohingya risk their lives on the perilous sea journey from camps in Bangladesh and Burma to Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia.
More than 50 people were on board the boat en route to Malaysia when the boat ran into trouble in rough seas Sunday night, according to Byar La, a lifeguard with the Shwe Yaung Foundation. Metta in Sittwe, Rakhine State (West).
“We found 17 bodies,” the rescuer told AFP, adding that around 30 other people were missing.
“We found eight men alive. The police took her away for questioning.”
Rescuers were still trying to find missing people, he added, although the exact number of passengers is not known.
Burma’s predominantly Buddhist Rakhine state is home to around 600,000 Rohingya Muslims who are considered invaders from Bangladesh, despite having lived there for generations and being denied citizenship and freedom of movement.
In 2017, a crackdown by the Myanmar military forced around 750,000 Rohingya people to flee the country to Bangladesh after numerous reports of killings, arson and rapes.