The UN called for the urgent rescue of 185 Rohingya shipwrecked in the Indian Ocean

2023-12-24 15:57:00

The UN called for the urgent rescue of 185 Rohingya shipwrecked in the Indian Ocean. Photo: Archive
The UN urged last Saturday night come to the rescue of 185 peoplemostly women and children, who were adrift in the Indian Ocean, in Asia.

“At least a dozen {of the passengers]are in a critical condition and the death of one has already been reported,” said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in a statement. in which he indicated that they were near the southern islands of Myanmar, Andaman and Nicobar, in the Bay of Bengal, in the Indian Ocean.

“Many more may die, under the gaze of numerous coastal States [del Índico]without a timely rescue and transfer to the nearest safe place” of the castaways, he added.

Although the UN agency did not specify the reason why the boat was adrift, it did He clarified that of the 185 people on board the boat, 70 are children and 88 women.

UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch told the AFP news agency that the people on board were Rohingya refugees and that the organization was trying to contact coastal authorities in the area to save them.

““It’s a desperate situation.”he stressed.

The agency indicated that at least a dozen of the crew are in “critical condition.” Photo: Archive
The Rohingyas are a Muslim ethnic minority that, since 2017, has been the target of persecution in Myanmar by the Burmese Army.

Thousands try every year to flee that country or the refugee camps in Bangladesh on dangerous and costly journeys.hoping to reach the coasts of Malaysia or Indonesia.

In 2018, the UN described this persecution and violence against that minority as genocide.

In June of this year, Rohingya refugees gave their testimony in Buenos Aires, within the framework of an investigation by the Argentine justice system into the alleged war crimes of the Myanmar Army.

This is a lawsuit filed in November 2019 by Rohingya, Latin American and Argentine human rights groups, including Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo and the Nobel Peace Prize organization Adolfo Pérez Esquivel.

According to UNHCR, more than 2,000 made that attempt in 2022 and more than 570 people, including many Rohingya refugees, lost their lives or disappeared last year in the region’s waters.