ROHINGYA FLEE CAMPS BY BOAT
Refugees trying to reach Malaysia following end of monsoon season
DOZENS of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and Bangladesh have boarded boats to try to reach Malaysia, officials and aid workers said on Thursday, raising fears of a fresh wave of such dangerous voyages after a 2015 crackdown on people smugglers.
One boat attempted to set sail from the southern coast of Bangladesh on Wednesday, the coast guard said, while several vessels left Rakhine State in western Myanmar, according to Rohingya leaders, aid workers and a monitoring group.
Officials detained 33 Rohingya and six Bangladeshis aboard a fishing boat bound for Malaysia in the southeastern part of the Bay of Bengal, said Foyezul Islam Mondol, the head of the coast guard in southeastern Teknaf upazila. Six Bangladeshis were also arrested, he said.
A spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency in Myanmar said the organisation had heard “similar reports” of boats leaving the country, but could not confirm their location.
“With the prospect of boat movements increasing following the end of the monsoon season, it is increasingly urgent for the authorities to take measures to address the root causes of displacement...and create conditions which foster social cohesion and economic opportunities for all communities,” she said.
Kyaw Swar Tun, deputy director of the Rakhine government, said he was unaware of any boats leaving.
The new departures come as Myanmar prepares to take some of the refugees back after agreeing with Bangladesh to start repatriation on Nov 15, despite widespread opposition from Rohingya, who say they would not return without guarantees of basic rights, including citizenship and freedom of movement.
The United Nations has said conditions in Rakhine, where Buddhists have protested against the repatriation, are not conducive for returns and the special envoy on human rights, Yanghee Lee, on Thursday urged a halt to the “rushed plans”.
Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, which has a network of sources across Rohingya communities, said the threat of being sent back to Myanmar could be pushing refugees to turn to smugglers.
“The Rohingya are trapped. They have nowhere to go. No one wants them, and now they face the threat of repatriation.”
On the other side of the border in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine, tens of thousands of Rohingya have been languishing in internal displacement camps since a previous wave of violence in 2012.
“The living conditions in the camp are very bad and there’s not enough food to survive,” said Kyaw Hla, a Rohingya leader from Thae Chaung camp outside Sittwe, where he said one boat carrying some 80 people left last week.
“People are not able to stand against all these troubles, so they are deciding to leave,” he said.
“There’s no hope for us here.”