Boat with Rohingya refugees capsizes, killing 5 as more flee

KUTUPALONG, Bangladesh A trawler carrying Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in Myanmar capsized, killing at least five people, as the country’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, blamed a misinformation campaign for fueling a crisis the U.N. says has pushed some 146,000 refugees into Bangladesh.

Suu Kyi’s top security adviser also sought to counter the storm of international criticism over alleged army abuses against the Rohingya ethnic minority, asserting that security forces were acting with restraint in pursuing “terrorists.”

On the Bangladesh side of the border with Buddhist-majority Myanmar, residents of Shah Porir Dwip fishing village recovered five bodies from the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday, hours after the boat capsized around midnight, police official Yakub Ali said.

It was not immediately clear where the boat began its journey, or if the passengers had been among some 450 detained by Bangladeshi border guards and ordered Tuesday to return to Myanmar.

While some border guards were letting refugees cross into Bangladesh, others were sending them back.

Faced with a mounting crisis and a lack of space and basic supplies, Bangladesh said it will set up a new camp to accommodate Rohingya refugees who have arrived from Myanmar since Aug. 25, many walking for days and crossing jungles and rivers to reach safety.

Shah Kamal of the Ministry of Disaster Management did not say when the new camp would be ready. He said Wednesday it would be established in Tyingkhali, south of Cox’s Bazar district and near the established camp in Balukhali where more than 50,000 Rohingya have been sheltering since October.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked officials to prepare a database with fingerprints for the new arrivals.

Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it summoned Myanmar’s envoy on Wednesday and delivered a protest note expressing deep concern about the influx of refugees. It said it demanded immediate measures by Myanmar to de-escalate the violence and also expressed concern about reports that Myanmar’s security forces had planted land mines along the border.

Some 146,000 people fleeing Myanmar’s Rakhine state have reached Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazaar district since Aug. 25, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Wednesday from the U.N. He said the World Food Program is appealing for $11.3 million to support the influx of people and those already living in camps and the U.N. agency has provided food to tens of thousands of people.

He described women and children arriving hungry and malnourished. Earlier, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake 80 per cent of the arrivals are women and children.