More than 500 Rohingya refugees may have recently died in two shipwrecks off the coast of Burma, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced on Thursday July 16.
The two boats left the western state of Rakhine, which borders Bangladesh, at the end of June “with mainly Rohingya passengers on board”, including some from makeshift camps opened by Bangladesh around Cox’s Bazar (south), where more than a million members of this Muslim minority who fled the civil war in their country live, the two UN agencies said in a statement.
One of the boats, which was estimated to be carrying around 250 people, “lost contact shortly after departure”. The second boat, which reportedly had some 280 people on board, “sank off the coast of the Ayeyarwady region” (south) on July 8. While these incidents and the number of victims have not yet been officially confirmed, UNHCR and IOM said they were “extremely concerned about the potentially considerable human losses”.
According to the UNHCR, nearly 900 Rohingya refugees died or went missing in the northern Indian Ocean in 2025, among more than 6,500 who attempted the perilous sea crossing in makeshift boats to reach neighboring Malaysia or Indonesia.
Since January, another 300 people have been reported missing or presumed dead in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, including Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals, the two agencies said. “These crossings took place outside of the usual shipping season, a time when conditions at sea are generally more dangerous. The torrential rains and floods that have recently affected the region have further increased the risks associated with these maritime movements,” said UNHCR and IOM.
“The intensification of the conflict and the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Burma, combined with the lack of aid and prospects in the refugee camps in Bangladesh, are pushing a growing number of people to undertake perilous crossings,” they further warned, calling for “more sustained regional and international efforts” to “prevent further loss of life”.
“Walking the remarkable generosity that Bangladesh has demonstrated for many years in welcoming Rohingya refugees,” the UNHCR and IOM also called for “sustained international support for Rohingya refugees and the communities that host them.”
