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Rohingya women and children wait in a queue for an aid distribution at Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. © UNHCR/Roger Arnold

By Caroline Gluck
January 26, 2018

Refugees in Bangladesh camps say there can be no returns without questions of citizenship, rights and restitution being addressed first.

KUTUPALONG CAMP, Bangladesh – Rohingya refugee Mohammed* says he does not want to stay in Bangladesh for long, but is clear about the guarantees that he needs before he will consider taking his family back to their native Myanmar.

“We will return to Myanmar, but only when we have our safety guaranteed, and our rights recognized, just like other ethnic groups there,” he says.

The soft-spoken 43-year-old is among 655,000 refugees who have fled to Bangladesh since violence erupted in the Maungdaw area of northern Rakhine state five months ago and reported that troops and mobs attacked and killed residents and torched their villages.

As talks intensify over the prospect of repatriation, refugees in what has become the world’s largest refugee settlement have held a number of demonstrations in the past week. Their message is clear: There can be no returns without the questions of citizenship, rights and restitution being addressed. 

“We have showed our voice. They know our views,” says Mohammed, one of the protest organizers. “We have a petition with 20,000 signatures with our demands on repatriation that we have sent to the authorities.” 


“We will return to Myanmar, but only when we have our safety guaranteed, and our rights recognized.” 

Discussions on the modalities of repatriation have been taking place between the governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar, even as new arrivals continue to flow into Bangladesh, though at a much slower pace than in the early weeks of the crisis.

UNHCR, which is not party to the bilateral arrangements, has cautioned that any decision to return should be based on the refugees’ informed and voluntary choice. While at this time the UN Refugee Agency does does not have access to any areas of return, it believes that conditions in Rakhine state are not yet conducive to the safe and sustainable return of refugees.

The discussions – to which refugees are not party – have caused enormous anxiety among the refugees who have not been consulted nor received any information about the plan. Some are strongly opposed to return.

“How can we go back? It’s like sending us back to be killed there,” says mother-of-four, Fatima,* who fled from Andang village in Maungdaw. Her voice rising with passion, she continues: “It is better to be killed. If we die here in Bangladesh, at least we can have a proper religious burial – we cannot do that back home.” 

Others cite lessons from history. Abdullah,* 52, explains how we was forced to flee his homeland into Bangladesh three times – the first time, in 1978, as a young boy, then again in 1991.

“I spent three years here, but I agreed to go back to Myanmar voluntarily in 1993. I was worried about my property and farm,” he recalled, speaking at a small bamboo shelter in the overcrowded Kutupalong camp.

However, the root causes that forced him to flee were not resolved: “My hopes of a better life faded after two years when the situation worsened. We saw all kinds of torture, forced labour and military operations. They took our land, our crops, our cattle. We were threatened and beaten.” 

Regretting his previous decision to return, Abdullah is adamant that he will only consider returning home this time if fundamental changes are happening. These include gaining citizenship rights and having their legal status resolved; receiving assurances that their safety and protection will be guaranteed on return, with many calling for the presence of UNHCR – and even UN peacekeepers – to monitor the situation and provide safeguards. They also want help to rebuild their homes, regain their land, and access to basic services.


“I want freedom of movement and to play an active part in daily life, I want access to all services.”

Selling vegetables from a makeshift stall on the roadside, 22 year-old Nurul,* from Mijjali Para in Maungdaw, is equally clear about what he wants. “We fled to save our lives. My house was burned,” he explains. “If I go back, I want my Rohingya identity to be recognized the way it is for any other ethnic group. I want freedom of movement and to play an active part in daily life, I want access to all services like a normal citizen of Myanmar,” he said.

UNHCR has advocated for unhindered humanitarian access to areas of return in Myanmar in order to assess the situation and help with rebuilding efforts. It is also urging the authorities to promptly implement the recommendations of the Rakhine Advisory Commission, which include ensuring peace and security for all communities in Rakhine State, reducing communal divisions and seeking solutions for the citizenship status of Muslim communities. 

Mohammed sums it up simply: “We are human and they are human. We must have the same rights.”

Your support is urgently needed to help the children, women and men refugees in Bangladesh. Please give now.

*Names have been changed for protection reasons

Hamida, 22, (center) and her son Mohammed, aged one, wait to receive food aid along with hundreds of other Rohingya refugees, at Kutupalong Refugee Camp, in Bangladesh. © UNHCR/Andrew McConnell

By UNHCR
November 24, 2017

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

UNHCR takes note of reports that the governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar have reached agreement on the return of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar. Some 622,000 people have fled Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State since 25 August, triggered by a wave of violence underpinned by denial of citizenship and decades of deep discrimination.

UNHCR has not yet seen the details of the agreement. Refugees have the right to return. And a framework that enables them to exercise this right in line with international standards, will be welcome. First and foremost, this means that return must be voluntary, and take place in safe and dignified conditions that pave the way for lasting solutions. 

At present, conditions in Myanmar’s Rakhine State are not in place to enable safe and sustainable returns. Refugees are still fleeing, and many have suffered violence, rape, and deep psychological harm. Some have witnessed the deaths of family members and friends. Most have little or nothing to go back to, their homes and villages destroyed. Deep divisions between communities remain unaddressed. And humanitarian access in northern Rakhine State remains negligible.

It is critical that returns do not take place precipitously or prematurely, without the informed consent of refugees or the basic elements of lasting solutions in place. People must have the option of returning home, and not be confined to specific areas. Progress towards addressing the root causes of flight, including their lack of citizenship, as recommended by the Rakhine Advisory Commission, will also be crucial.

UNHCR looks forward to seeing details of the agreement between the two countries, and stands ready to help both governments work towards a solution for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh that meets international refugee and human rights standards.

Refugees in Kutupalong camp rebuild their homes after Cyclone Mora tore through the area on 30 May 2017. © UNHCR/Shinji Kubo

UNHCR
June 2, 2017

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

Cyclone Mora swept across the Bay of Bengal earlier this week, damaging thousands of homes in Bangladesh and Myanmar. Shelter is urgently needed for those affected. Many refugees and internally displaced people are among the local victims.

Some injuries were reported among Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar area and displaced people in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. An 11-year-old refugee died on Wednesday when he was hit by a falling tree branch in Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar. In Myanmar in central Rakhine state, a displaced boy aged 10 was reported missing after he was swept away by rising waters. 

UNHCR assessments in Bangladesh’s Kutupalong and Nayapara camps found that most of the refugees’ homes – which are built with mud, bamboo, corrugated iron and plastic sheets – suffered some damage. Some 20 percent are completely destroyed. Communal structures such as schools, community centres and the offices of government and NGOs are also damaged. Our partners are assessing the situation in makeshift sites and local villages hosting refugees.

In Myanmar, the government is conducting assessments with the contribution of UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies. Hundreds of shelters in the camps housing internally displaced people in central Rakhine state have suffered damage in the strong winds. This includes 186 shelters that collapsed while 339 are severely damaged.

In both countries, UNHCR and our partners are supporting government-led relief efforts to assist refugees, displaced people and their host communities who were affected by this natural disaster.

The working environment remains challenging amid persistent rains. Parts of central Rakhine are fraught with risks of landslides and collapsing river banks. In northern Rakhine state, relief work is hampered by flooding in parts of Maungdaw town as well as downed power and telecommunications lines. The electricity mini-grid in Bangladesh’s refugee camps is also broken, heightening security concerns after dark.

There is an urgent need for shelter materials. While some refugees in Bangladesh are already repairing their homes, others face nights in the open unless alternative accommodation can be found. UNHCR is prioritizing the repair of communal structures like schools to provide temporary shelter. Our staff are also distributing plastic sheets to those who need it the most.

UNHCR is seeking funds from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to help those affected by the cyclone in the two Bangladesh camps where we are authorised to work.

In Rakhine state in light of the urgent needs, we have provided plastic sheets to several healthcare facilities and are distributing further to people who need a roof over their heads. We are also working with UNICEF to support repairs to schools to minimize disruption of the school year that started yesterday (Thursday). UNHCR will provide further humanitarian aid in close liaison with the authorities.

Food rations, drinking water and latrines are some of the other needs identified so far in the cyclone-affected areas. More needs are likely to be identified as further assessments are completed in Bangladesh and Myanmar.

In Bangladesh, there are more than 33,000 Rohingya refugees registered in the official camps of Kutupalong and Nayapara. Outside the camps, more than 200,000 undocumented Rohingya are living in makeshift sites and local villages in south-eastern Bangladesh, including an estimated 74,000 who arrived after fleeing the violence in northern Rakhine state in October 2016.

In Myanmar, there are some 120,500 internally displaced people who have been living in bamboo longhouses in IDP camps in central Rakhine since they lost their homes in the 2012 inter-communal violence.

For more information on this topic, please contact:

- In Geneva, Ariane Rummery, rummery@unhcr.org, +41 79 200 7617
- In Bangladesh, Joseph Tripura, tripura@unhcr.org, +88 01713 090 375
- In Bangkok, Vivian Tan, tanv@unhcr.org, +66 818 270 280
- In Myanmar, Andrew Dusek, dusek@unhcr.org, +95 9 448 034 427

Rohingya refugees live in overcrowded makeshift sites in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, after fleeing across the border to escape the October 2016 violence in Myanmar. © UNHCR/Saiful Huq Omi

By Vivian Tan
May 3, 2017

Study finds thousands of Rohingya fleeing violence and desperation have sought safety and stability in countries like Bangladesh and Malaysia in the last five years.

BANGKOK, Thailand – More than 168,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar in the last five years as a result of violence and desperation, a new report on forced displacement in South-East Asia by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, estimates.

UNHCR’s just-released 2016 Report on Mixed Movements in South-East Asia highlights the complex dynamics behind the whys and hows of the continuing exodus from Rakhine state. Sources range from government to non-governmental organizations, media reports as well as more than 1,000 direct interviews with the Rohingya community in the region.

While Rohingya displacement has persisted for decades, it made headlines last October when attacks on border posts in northern Rakhine state triggered a security clearance operation that drove an estimated 43,000 civilians into Bangladesh by year’s end. By February this year, the estimate stood at 74,000.

Many of the new arrivals in Bangladesh’s camps and makeshift sites told UNHCR about the burnings, lootings, shootings, rapes and arrests they escaped back home.

“These children, women and men are highly vulnerable. They risk being re-victimized even in exile unless urgent action is taken,” said Shinji Kubo, UNHCR’s Representative in Bangladesh.

“Many of them need adequate shelter before the rainy season starts. Without proper support, they also face risks such as child labour, gender-based violence and trafficking.”

Prior to the recent violence, Malaysia was the preferred destination for many Rohingya. Between 2012 and 2015, an estimated 112,500 of them risked their lives on smuggler’s boats in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea in the hope of reaching Malaysia, where there is a Rohingya community and potential work in the informal sector.

Those making the sea journey ranged from people fleeing inter-communal violence in Rakhine state in 2012, to those who grew increasingly desperate amid restrictions back home on their freedom of movement and access to services and livelihoods. 

The sea route has been disrupted since mid-2015, when governments in the region cracked down on maritime smuggling networks. UNHCR could not confirm any boat arrivals in Malaysia last year.

Among those who tried to reach Malaysia overland in 2016, more than 100 – about half of them Rohingya – were reportedly arrested in Myanmar and Thailand.

The 2016 report explores other routes taken by the Rohingya, including to India via Bangladesh. It notes a steady but slowing stream of arrivals since 2012 numbering at least 13,000 people.

“Looking at the declining arrival numbers in India, it is safe to assume that this overland route has not replaced the maritime one,” said Keane Shum of UNHCR’s Regional Mixed Movements Monitoring Unit that produced the report. “Compared to those who went to Malaysia by sea, the Rohingya in India travelled in larger family units and chose the route as it was cheaper and safer.”

Besides analysing patterns of Rohingya displacement, the report also offers a snapshot of 85 Rohingya women and girls in India, Indonesia and Malaysia. It found that the majority of them married young – between the ages of 16 and 17 – and gave birth at an average age of 18.

Those in India appeared to be more literate and educated, and were more likely to have chosen their own husbands. In contrast, those in Malaysia were more likely to have married someone chosen by their families or by brokers or agents.

One-third of the 85 women and girls said they were victims of domestic violence. Many said they would like to earn their own income and some had marketable skills, but only a few were actually earning their own income.

UNHCR has been working with host countries on the temporary stay and protection of Rohingya refugees, which includes granting them access to basic services and legal work. This will enable them to be self-reliant until longer-term solutions are found.

The agency has also been advocating with the Myanmar authorities for the full resumption of humanitarian access to vulnerable people in northern Rakhine state.

UNHCR stands ready to support government efforts to promote peaceful co-existence and address issues related to citizenship.

The total number of Rohingya refugees and internally displaced Rohingya in the region is estimated at 420,000 and 120,000 respectively.

Many Rohingya children like these, photographed in February 2016, live in overcrowded makeshift sites in Bangladesh after fleeing violence in Myanmar. © UNHCR/Saiful Huq Omi

By Vivian Tan
April 10, 2017

UNHCR is working to identify and assess the best interests of unaccompanied children who recently arrived in the refugee camps of Bangladesh.

UKHIYA, Bangladesh – At their age, Asif and Suleman* should be running around, kicking up dirt, giving their parents trouble. Instead the young brothers sit like statues, staring blankly with dull eyes. 

Suleman is 12 and Asif eight, but they look much younger than their peers. In recent weeks, their daily routine has consisted of religious school and private English lessons. No play and only sporadic sleep.

“I have dreams of happy children playing,” said Suleman unexpectedly. “But in my dreams we can’t play with them. I’m always afraid. If something falls on the ground or there is a sudden noise, I jump and remember what happened.”

The boys are among many distressed Rohingya children who have arrived in Bangladesh since October last year, when a security crackdown in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state tore them from their families. More than 70,000 people are estimated to have fled to Bangladesh in the last five months; as many as half could be children aged under 18 years.

“I’m always afraid.”

Suleman and Asif were playing in their backyard when their home was raided. They ran away, unable to save their little brother who was playing in the front of the house. They believed their parents were shot and killed in the attack, but do not know if their brother survived.

Fleeing with some neighbours, they were eventually taken to their uncle Mustafa in Bangladesh, who had fled earlier in October with his family. Today they live in a makeshift shelter and have received some rice and relief supplies.

Beyond their immediate needs, these boys will need psychosocial counselling to help them overcome the loss of their loved ones and the violence they have witnessed.

In Kutupalong and Nayapara refugee camps, multi-age play spaces have been set up to help address mental distress. 

“Play is essential for all children to build a foundation for learning, but it is particularly important for refugee children because of its therapeutic role,” said Marzia Dalto, UNHCR’s Protection Officer in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. “When properly managed, safe and imaginative play can help to reduce stress and optimize brain development. It can provide healing opportunities for children’s emotional trauma and offer hope to break the cycle of physical and emotional violence.”

Asif, 8, and Suleman, 12, say their parents were killed in the violence near Maungdaw, Myanmar. © UNHCR

For some, play can feel like a luxury. Kamal*, 12, lost his parents during the violence in Myanmar. With nothing to their name, he and three elder sisters fled to Bangladesh in November. They had to borrow 80,000 kyat (US$60) from a neighbour to pay for a boat to cross the Naf River.

In Bangladesh, they were found by a long-staying Rohingya refugee, Noor Kaida, who decided to host them despite having four children of her own.

“I came across these children crying at a graveyard nearby,” said Noor Kaida, 27, who herself fled Myanmar as a baby with her parents. “I took them in because they have nothing, no one. They are so vulnerable and we have a moral responsibility for them.”

“They are so vulnerable and we have a moral responsibility for them.”

As the only boy, Kamal volunteered to work at a tea shop in town. He barely comes back to their shelter anymore.

His eldest sister Talifa*, 18, worries incessantly: “They are still so young. How we will find food and clothing, how we will survive? We are also in debt to our neighbour for the boat fees. He keeps asking and I promised to beg or do whatever I can to repay him.”

Their host says she will shelter them for as long as she can – “until they find their own shelter or get married.”

Good intentions aside, the presence of so many unaccompanied minors raises serious protection concerns around the risk of child labour, early marriage, trafficking and sexual exploitation.

UNHCR has mobilized community support groups involving women and youth in the refugee camps to reach out to these vulnerable children. The agency is also working with partners to trace family members where possible, and to assess the best interests of those who have no surviving family. Options could range from tracing and reunification with close relatives, to appointing guardians or foster families who can offer care and guidance.

“I think of my parents often,” said Talifa. “We bear the pain inside but we have to deal with it.”

*Names changed for protection reasons

In some makeshift sites around Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar area, humanitarian agencies have built tube wells that provide a much-needed source of drinking water for undocumented Rohingya living outside the official camps. © UNHCR/Saiful Huq Omi

By Vivian Tan
March 21, 2017

A small proportion who fled violence decades ago are considered refugees, while many recent arrivals remain undocumented and miss out on vital aid.

UKHIYA, Bangladesh - At a glance, Mostafa and Sohel* have a lot in common.

As a young man in 1992, Mostafa fled violence in the northern part of Rakhine state in Myanmar to seek refuge in Bangladesh.

Twenty-five years later Sohel took the same journey. After weeks of violence amid a security operation in his village, the 22-year-old had to be carried across the Naf River to safety earlier this year, his body burnt and swollen.

Pointing to the scars on his feet, Sohel said: “They beat us senseless and left us to die in a ditch. We were five people in the group, only three survived.”

Both men found refuge in Bangladesh, where Mostafa recently guided Sohel to a hospital to received treatment for his injuries. But despite their common Rohingya background and circumstances, Mostafa and Sohel are being treated very differently.

As part of the influx of refugees in the early 1990s, Mostafa is among 33,000 registered refugees living in two government-run camps serviced by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and its partners in south-eastern Bangladesh.

He has a home in Kutupalong camp and access to basic services including food assistance, healthcare and education for his wife and three children. Now in his 50s, he has learnt to speak English well and is working as a photographer in the camp.

In contrast, Sohel has no legal status in Bangladesh as one of more than 70,000 Rohingya new arrivals who are believed to have fled a security operation between October 2016 and February 2017. He lives with people from his home village and keeps a low profile. He receives ad hoc assistance if he is lucky.

A third category consists of an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 undocumented Rohingya who arrived in Bangladesh between the two influxes. They live in makeshift sites and local villages, and until recently had no access to humanitarian aid.

“The current situation is not sustainable,” said Shinji Kubo, UNHCR’s Representative in Bangladesh. “Regardless of when they came and where they live, these people have the same needs and deserve equal access to protection and assistance.” 

Recent arrival Sohel* (left) shares his experiences with long-stayer Mostafa (centre) as a UNHCR worker listens in. © UNHCR/Vivian Tan

The new influx has highlighted the urgent need to verify the number and location of the new arrivals. Without this information, vulnerable refugees risk falling through the cracks while others could be receiving duplication of assistance. 

“We are advocating for a joint verification of the new arrivals with our partners as soon as possible,” said Kubo. “This exercise will help the government and humanitarian agencies to better target assistance to those who need it the most, be they new arrivals, refugees who came earlier or locals who host them.”

UNHCR works with humanitarian agencies such as the International Organization for Migration and the World Food Programme in Cox’s Bazar.

Several thousand new arrivals are believed to be hosted in the two official camps, straining the capacity of existing refugees and the infrastructure. The water supply in Nayapara camp is expected to run out by the end of March and there are fears of disease outbreaks as a result of overcrowding and poor sanitation.

Many more new arrivals are living in existing makeshift sites or new ones that have sprouted spontaneously.

In Ukhiya district, a site called Balukhali has emerged in the last two months and now hosts 1,600 families, according to a local politician helping them. Located beyond some rice fields, it is a mish-mash of flimsy shelters and latrines made of thin plastic sheets, dried leaves, tree branches and bamboo. These structures could constitute safety and health hazards unless proper site planning is undertaken.

Miriam*, 65, has just moved to Balukhali with her son’s family. “We were living in a local village for more than two months but the leader said we can only receive assistance if we go to a camp,” she said as her son cleared some land to build a shelter. “We have nowhere else to go, we’ll have to stay here.”

The Bangladesh government has announced it will extend a 2016 census of undocumented Rohingya living outside the two camps to include the new arrivals.

“In the long run, we hope that all Rohingya in Bangladesh can be documented to ensure full respect for their rights,” said UNHCR’s Kubo. “Knowing the profile of this population will also help us to identify longer-term solutions for them.”

Despite his traumatized state, Sohel is clear about one thing: “Here I am living in someone else’s house and I worry about the future. If we are given status in Myanmar, we will definitely go back.

*Names changed for protection reasons

One of the abandoned boats which carried Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants from Thailand. (Reuters/Beawiharta)

By UNHCR Regional Office for South-East Asia
August 28, 2015

“Where are you?” Abdul asked his wife over the phone.

“I don’t know.”

“Are you in jail?”

“Under examination, in a camp.”

“Is our son there?”

“Sorry?”

“Is our son available?”

“It’s so noisy here. I can’t understand, can you say that again?”

“Where is our son? Where is our son?”

This is the story of Abdul*, a 30-year-old Rohingya man who travelled by boat and arrived in Malaysia in February 2015.

One month later, his wife and infant son set out from their hometown of Maungdaw in Rakhine State, Myanmar, to join him. They were among thousands of refugees and migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh who soon found themselves stranded at sea that May, when the people smugglers and ship crews who had promised to take them to Malaysia abandoned them en masse in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea.



Abdul’s wife and son had boarded the boat on March 6. He knows the exact dates of all these events because he recorded them, as they happened, in a maroon ledger book. In the hundreds of interviews that the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has conducted with Rohingya like Abdul who have recently arrived in Malaysia, he is the first who kept notes about his journey, which took place at the end of 2014, before boats began being abandoned.

One of the crumpled notes Abdul unwraps from a wrinkled plastic bag has the number “73” written in blue. He had kept the number in his head while he was at sea, then wrote it down once he found some paper and a children’s crayon lying around the smuggler’s house where he was sequestered in February in Padang Besar, Thailand, on the border with Malaysia. It is the number of people Abdul says died on his boat.

Two of the 73 had sat within a whisper of Abdul, and he had shared betel nut with them, as well as worries and prayers. The first was a married man from Buthidaung who was visibly ill and struggled. The other was a single man from Maungdaw, who starved quietly until, one night, the person he was crouched next to could not wake him.

Most of the deaths were like this, Abdul says; there was just not enough food for the over 1,000 passengers he thinks were crammed on board. 



After his own arrival in Malaysia, Abdul brokered a deal on April 11 with a Rohingya agent aboard his wife’s boat. The agent acted as a kind of switchboard operator for smugglers demanding payment from relatives, and would allow Abdul to speak to his wife regularly so long as Abdul topped up the agent’s Malaysian SIM card.

Soon after, Abdul’s wife told him from that their son was sick. He became desperate to get them off the boat, so despite warnings not to, he called one of the smugglers, unsolicited. Abdul has a recording of the call, which begins with Abdul introducing himself as a mullah. The smuggler, apparently driving somewhere in southern Thailand and curiously safety-conscious, says he needs to pull over to talk.

“My wife is with our baby, and the baby is sick,” Abdul tells the smuggler. “I would like to request you to kindly bring them to shore.”

“Mothers with small children,” says the smuggler. “There are 22 mothers and 22 small children.” He explains that the women and children have been particularly difficult to disembark, because they are less able to walk through the night undetected. “Can we stop the children from talking?” the smuggler asks, rhetorically.

“Brother,” says Abdul. “My child isn’t big enough to talk. He isn’t even one.”

In both this and another call, Abdul and the smuggler develop a peculiar, strategic rapport. Abdul repeatedly begs the smuggler’s forgiveness for disturbing him, while also reiterating his status as a mullah. And the smuggler seems to heed this subtle warning, expounding on what God would want him to do, boasting of how many Rohingya he has helped reach and survive in Malaysia. “By God’s blessing, I did it,” the smuggler says. “That doesn’t mean I am praising myself.”

Near the end of one of the calls, Abdul directly makes an offer to pay for his wife and son’s release.

“I am a mullah. I am saying this for you to consider. Is the market price right now 7,000 ringgit ($1,650) per person?”

“Okay, I understand,” the smuggler says. “Please be patient. Don’t pray against me. Please don’t do that.”

“No, not today. Even until the judgment day, I won’t pray against you, because you are the only one who is helping people.”

“Let me see what I can do for you, and where God guides me. Pray for me now, I’m driving, and a military man is waiting for me.”

“Assalamualaikum. If there’s an emergency, if I call you, please pick up.” “I have to deal with 1,400 people. Don’t call me. I’ll call you back.”

When UNHCR first met Abdul on May 3, he knew his wife and son were at sea, but he did not know where. A few days later, around May 7 or 8, his wife told him the entire crew had abandoned ship in a speedboat and directed the passengers towards Malaysia.




The Thai number Abdul called to reach his wife worked for two more days after her boat was abandoned, then cut out, Abdul believes, because his wife’s boat had moved into Malaysian territory near the resort island of Langkawi.

The boat was one of two that arrived in Langkawi on May 11, carrying a total of 1,107 passengers. All transferred to the Belantik Immigration Detention Centre in Kedah.

Through a contact in Alor Setar, Abdul was able to speak to his wife again on 21 June. When he met with UNHCR the next day, he played a recording of the call that was saved on his phone along with a photo of his wife and son outside their home in Maungdaw.

On the call, Abdul’s wife tells him that their son is still sick, but when Abdul tries to understand what exactly ails his son, the contact from Alor Setar jumps on the line.

“I’ll call you back later,” the contact says. “Don’t worry.”

“Can you hand the phone to my wife, please.”

“They won’t allow it,” the contact says, referring to the authorities. “Because she’s crying.”

“She won’t cry. I’ll tell her not to cry. Just give her the phone for a while.”

“Hello,” says Abdul’s wife. “Be careful.”

The contact interrupts again. “I don’t know why she’s saying, ‘Be careful.’ There’s nothing to worry about.”

Abdul has not spoken to his wife since then. The contact has not called back, and his number is no longer in service.

*Abdul’s name has been changed. At least 5,000 passengers on the boats abandoned in May eventually disembarked in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. Since 2014, nearly 100,000 people are believed to have embarked on the same journey as Abdul’s wife. An estimated 1,100 have died at sea due to starvation, dehydration, disease, and beatings by smugglers and crew members.

UNHCR has since been granted access to Belantik Immigration Detention Centre, but is still in the process of identifying all the Rohingya individuals detained there. More stories of survivors from the boats that landed in Indonesia are available on the UNHCR website.



By UNHCR
August 28, 2015

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 28 August 2015, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

UNHCR is calling for urgent action before the end of the monsoon season unleashes a new wave of people leaving on boats from the Bay of Bengal.

A new UNHCR report estimates that in the first six months of this year, some 31,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshis departed from the Bay of Bengal on smugglers' boats. This marks a 34-percent increase over the same period last year, and brings to 94,000 the estimated number of people who have risked their lives making the dangerous journey since 2014. Over 1,100 people are estimated to have died in these waters since 2014, including 370 in 2015.

The UNHCR report traces the events of May 2015 – when such maritime movements and government responses were thrust into the spotlight following the discovery of mass graves of people who died from abuse or deprivation in smugglers' camps along the Thailand-Malaysia border. Last weekend's discovery of 24 more bodies in north-western Malaysia is a reminder about the ruthlessness of the smugglers.

In a feature story accompanying the new report, survivors interviewed by UNHCR detail their long and difficult journeys and claim to have often been towed or guided by authorities from one territorial water to another. At least 5,000 people were abandoned by smugglers at sea in May and eventually disembarked in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand. Another 1,000 people remain unaccounted for but may have disembarked without the knowledge of the authorities. At least 70 people are estimated to have died on the boats that were abandoned in May.

The boat movements have temporarily stopped due to the monsoon rains, which have caused severe flooding in many areas across Myanmar. However, the maritime departures are expected to resume once the weather improves in the coming weeks.

UNHCR is urging governments to avert another crisis at sea by acting now on proposals made to affected States in the context of the Bangkok Special Meeting in May.

Of those disembarked in May, most of the Bangladeshi nationals have been assisted home with the support of their government. The Rohingya, who cannot return to Myanmar at the moment, remain in the countries in which they were disembarked. UNHCR continues to advocate that the protection needs of this population are met and that they are given access to basic services while the root causes of their displacement are addressed.

UNHCR's appeal for $13 million to respond and seek solutions to the recent maritime crisis is only 20 per cent funded, with contributions from the governments of Australia, Bangladesh, Japan, Korea and Norway, as well as a private contribution from the United Arab Emirates. More funds are needed in the coming months to enhance protection interventions for the Rohingya population in host countries, and to meet the humanitarian, human rights and development needs in source countries.

With the next "sailing season" expected to start in the coming weeks, UNHCR is working with agencies and other partners on an information campaign warning potential travellers of the risks of getting on smugglers' boats.

At the regional level, more must be done to put systems in place to respond to the need for rescue at sea and for safe and predictable disembarkation. UNHCR looks forward to the establishment of a task force recommended at the Bangkok Special Meeting and reiterated at the Emergency ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime in July. UNHCR is also participating in global discussions on migration and human mobility next month, including mixed movements involving migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees.

For more information on this topic, please contact:

In Bangkok, Vivian Tan on mobile +66 818 270 280
In Geneva, Andreas Needham on mobile +41 79 217 3140

Indonesian fishermen have rescued hundreds of Bangladeshis and Rohingya from Myanmar this month, including these children. (Photo: UNHCR)

By UNHCR
May 19, 2015

GENEVA, UNHCR – The UN refugee agency on Tuesday warned that time was running out for thousands of people in distress at sea and urged governments in the South-east Asia region to urgently rescue and disembark these vulnerable people.

"We estimate that nearly 4,000 people from Myanmar and Bangladesh remain stranded at sea with dwindling supplies on board. This includes some 2,000 men, women and children stranded on at least five boats near the Myanmar-Bangladesh coasts for more than 40 days. Unconfirmed reports suggest the number could be higher," UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told journalists in Geneva on Tuesday.

In Myanmar, several hundred people have abandoned their journeys and returned to Rakhine state after paying smugglers on board an average of 200,000 to 300,000 kyat (£117-£175) each for re-entry. Their reports of food shortages, dehydration and violence on board are consistent with reports from arrivals in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Since the weekend there have been no new reports of landings elsewhere in the region. In the last nine days, a total of 1,396 people have landed in Indonesia, 1,107 in Malaysia and 106 in southern Thailand.

Edwards said that in Indonesia's Aceh province, where UNHCR is registering Rohingya arrivals at Langsa, survivors have spoken of being abandoned by the crew and left adrift for days until approached by authorities whom they were unable to identify.

These officials provided food and water before pushing their boat away. "As supplies ran low, a fight broke out between passengers, resulting in deaths and people being thrown overboard. UNHCR cannot verify these claims, but has sought medical attention for the wounded among this group," the spokesman said.

In Malaysia, some arrivals currently in detention in Kedah state told UNHCR they were kidnapped or lured by false promises to board the smugglers' boats. They knew of other passengers who died at sea as a result of beatings by the crew, starvation and illness.

Given such accounts, as well as disembarking such boats, UNHCR has sought – with the governments in South-east Asia – urgent medical attention, assistance and protection. Those who have returned to Myanmar should be not be punished for irregular departure.

A rescued boat woman and her two children eat some welcome food at a centre in Kuala Cangkoi, Indonesia. (Photo: UNHCR)

By Mitra Salima Suryono
May 18, 2015

LHOKSUKON, Indonesia – As governments in the region deliberate over what to do with boatloads of vulnerable people stranded at sea, the people of Indonesia have spoken.

In the last week, Indonesian fishermen have rescued more than 1,300 Bangladeshis and Rohingya from Myanmar after they drifted or swam to shore in the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra. Local communities have mobilized donations of food, water as well as moral support – all desperately needed after the terrible ordeal the boat people have been through.

Fatimah*, aged 18 years, barely survived the journey. She decided to leave a camp housing displaced people in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state in Myanmar, after her fisherman husband was killed under mysterious circumstances over a year ago and she could no longer fend for herself and her two young daughters.

Hoping to join her sister in Malaysia, she gave everything she had – 200,000 kyats (US$180) – to board a smuggler's boat some three months ago. The boat made stops to transfer and take on more passengers, resulting in severe overcrowding. They were given food twice a day, sometimes rice, porridge, dried fish or potatoes. More than a week ago, the crew left on a speedboat and abandoned them in the open seas.

"The boat was then controlled by some of the passengers who knew how to steer one. We sailed until we ran out of gasoline," recalled Fatimah, noting that some people swam to get help. On May 10, the boat carrying 584 men, women and children from Myanmar and Bangladesh was rescued by local fishermen in Indonesia's Aceh.

"The fishermen and the local people are extremely helpful and kind to us," said Fatimah. "They took us to the closest mosque and allowed us to rest while providing us with food, water and snacks."

Her elder daughter, three-year-old Anwara, was sick from dehydration in the initial days. A local woman, Rusmawati, invited them home to clean up, and was worried to see that the little girl was still weak the next day.

"We speak a different language, it's very difficult to understand what they are saying, but I know that we have the same religion and we feel that they need to be helped," said Rusmawati, tearing up as she wished Anwara a quick recovery.

In the initial days the boat arrivals were housed in a sports hall in Lhoksukon under the coordination of Dinas Sosial, the district social and welfare office. As UNHCR worked to register the Rohingya among the group, food and clothes donated by the local people and government agencies kept flowing in. Three times a day local staff took turns to prepare meals for the group.

Ani, a second grade high school teacher who works an hour away, came with all her students and brought boxes of instant noodles and snacks. She later requested UNHCR staff to give a short sensitization session to explain why the refugees came and why people need to help them.

When it came time to move to another site last Wednesday, hundreds of locals gathered outside the sports hall, hoping to say goodbye to the people they'd cared so intensely for. The women shed tears of empathy and concern. Many of their unwitting guests shook their hands, trying to express gratitude for their generosity and affection.

"Anwara is better today," said Fatimah as she prepared to board the bus with her girls. "Only Allah can return their kindness to us."

More than 1,300 Rohingya and Bangladeshis have arrived in Indonesia's Aceh and North Sumatra provinces in the last week.

*Names changed for protection reasons


Map via The New York Times


UNHCR
Press Releases, 13 May 2015 

The UN refugee agency is extremely alarmed at reports suggesting that Indonesia and Malaysia may have pushed back boats carrying vulnerable people from Myanmar and Bangladesh. 

On Monday the Indonesian navy stated that it had escorted a boat out to sea, although it is not clear if this represents a change in the government's policy. Yesterday Malaysia's Maritime Enforcement Agency announced that it would not let foreign ships dock unless they are unseaworthy and sinking. 

As conflicts and persecution force more and more people to seek safety beyond international borders, UNHCR has been emphasizing the importance of saving lives on the high seas. 

"The first priority is to save lives. Instead of competing to avoid responsibility, it is key for States to share the responsibility to disembark these people immediately," said Volker Türk, UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for Protection. 

"Sea crossings are a symptom of desperation as people are left with no other choice but to risk their lives," Mr Türk said. He reiterated the agency's global call for legal alternatives to access protection and safety, "Nobody should have to put their lives into the hands of ruthless smugglers." 

In South-east Asia, several thousand people are believed to be stranded on smugglers' boats in the Andaman Sea and Straits of Malacca, likely abandoned by their crews amid government crackdowns against traffickers. UNHCR is urging governments to facilitate disembarkation and keep their borders and ports open to prevent a humanitarian crisis at sea. 

UNHCR is asking countries in South-east Asia to approach this as a regional issue with real human consequences as it has been engaging governments in the region on the growing problem of irregular maritime movements. The agency has been sharing information collected from interviews with hundreds of Rohingya who survived the journey, and offering concrete suggestions on coordinated responses. 

Once the humanitarian needs are met, agencies like UNHCR can support States to interview the different groups and target solutions to their specific needs, as those being rescued are likely to be a mix of refugees, economic migrants, victims of trafficking, unaccompanied and separated children among those being smuggled. 

The current situation highlights the urgent need for regional cooperation to address the challenge of irregular maritime movements. Through the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime, UNHCR has been advocating for coordinated regional responses to search and rescue, disembarkation, needs identification and solutions. 

For more information on this topic, please contact: 

- In Bangkok, Vivian Tan on mobile +66 818 270 280 
- In Geneva, Babar Baloch on mobile +41 79 557 9106
Members of a mixed farming cooperative work together in the fields. The initiative helps overcome fear and mistrust and produces bigger harvests. (Photo: UNHCR/L.Isla Rodrigoez)

December 30, 2014

MAUNGDAW, Myanmar – For 18 months they lived side by side but did not see or talk to each other. Following the 2012 inter-communal violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state, Muslim and Buddhist neighbours in this mixed village in northern Rakhine state were divided by fear and mistrust even though they were not directly affected by the unrest.

But they could not ignore the realities their forefathers had accepted. "The people of this village depend on each other," said Khine Myat San,* an ethnic Rakhine woman in the village. "Rakhine women used to sell vegetables in the Muslim hamlet, and Muslim men have been habitually hired as labour by Rakhine families."

In the country's second poorest state, paddy cultivation is one of the main sources of income and the two communities used to cooperate for agricultural and trading purposes. Luckily their leaders understood the importance of maintaining and restoring traditional links, and have progressively re-established a dialogue in some locations.

As a member of a mixed "agricultural committee," Khine Myat San speaks proudly of her efforts to promote a harmonious environment and enhance economic opportunities in her village. Her committee received farming machinery from UNHCR this year – part of an initiative to encourage reconciliation and coexistence in the wake of the violence that displaced more than 140,000 people.

UNHCR has spoken to numerous community leaders about livelihood activities that could lead to further interaction in their area. Early this year a meeting was called so that all community representatives could set out the basis for their cooperation. It was the first time that Muslim villagers were able to access the Rakhine hamlet in one-and-a-half years.

The committee members recall it as a moment of joy. "At the beginning we were all afraid that something might go wrong, but when we saw each other, we relaxed, and the meeting went well," said committee member Osman Johar.*

Today the agricultural committee members gathered in the house of the village administrator to highlight the benefits of their interaction and appreciate UNHCR's help in this process. When asked how often they held meetings, they looked at each other and burst into loud laughter: "We see each other every day we don't need to make an appointment for that."

Six villages have benefitted from this UNHCR initiative to support agricultural activities and improve income. Since the beginning of the year, UNHCR has helped more than 800 farmers by providing 18 small tractors, six rice mills, six harvesters, 12 water pumps and 45 tons of fertilizer. As a sign of their commitment, the committee members contribute an equal amount of fertilizer.

Where the villagers previously relied on manpower and cattle to plough their lands, the introduction of farming technology is expected to increase rice production while reminding people how they used to work together.

The project primarily targets communities that face irrigation problems and limited resources while trying to cultivate winter crops during the dry season. Equipment like water pumps decreases cultivation costs and improves irrigation.

Following this example of positive collaboration between the two communities, another 10 projects have been approved by the local authorities and the machinery will be delivered to the committee members in January.

While much more remains to be done to promote reconciliation between the communities, there are hopes that projects like this can start to sow the seeds for dialogue. As Khine Myat San observed, "We need to stay together. If we continue our lives separately, there will be risk of more misunderstandings, and violence might happen again."

* Names changed for protection reasons

People risking sea journeys across the Bay of Bengal often set sail at night. (Photo: UNHCR/S. Alam)

By UNHCR
December 5, 2014

GENEVA – A new UNHCR report released on Friday has found that more people are risking their lives on smugglers' boats in South-East Asia despite the prospect of violence en route.

The refugee agency estimates that 54,000 people have undertaken irregular maritime journeys in the region so far this year, based on reports by local sources, media and survivors. This includes some 53,000 people leaving from the Bay of Bengal towards Thailand and Malaysia, and hundreds of others moving further south in the Indian Ocean.

The outflow from the Bay of Bengal tends to peak in October, when calmer waters follow the end of the rainy season. Departures this October surged more than in previous years. Some 21,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshis have set sail since then, a 37-per cent increase over the same period last year. About 10 per cent are believed to be women. Roughly a third of arrivals interviewed by UNHCR in Thailand and Malaysia were minors under 18 years of age. Children as young as eight years old are known to have made the journey alone.

In total some 120,000 people are believed to have embarked on these voyages in the Bay of Bengal since the start of 2012. With payments ranging from US$1,600 to US$2,400 demanded for each passenger, smugglers plying this route are believed to have generated nearly US$250 million in revenue in the last three years. While the majority of people paid smugglers for the journey, there were isolated accounts of people who said they were forced onto boats, sometimes at gunpoint, in Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Conditions on the smugglers' boats were dire. Survivors consistently described overcrowded conditions and daily rations of one sparse meal and one to two cups of water. People who asked for more or tried to use the toilet out of turn were beaten or kicked down ladders by the armed crew on the deck above. An estimated 540 people have reportedly died this year at sea from such beatings, starvation or dehydration, and their bodies thrown overboard.

In Thailand, survivors told UNHCR staff that they were ferried from the big boats on smaller boats to the mainland. There they were held in smugglers' camps and made to call relatives to pay for their release. When payment was not immediate, they were beaten or subjected to other acts of torture.

Since last year, hundreds of people are alleged to have died in the camps from illness, starvation, dehydration and killings by smugglers when they tried to escape or could not pay.

According to survivor accounts, raids by law enforcement agencies in Thailand since the beginning of the year seem to have led to a marked reduction in the number and size of smugglers' camps in the country. Some of the survivors UNHCR interviewed had gone through the camps more than once. They were rescued in government raids, placed in immigration detention, then opted for deportation or escaped and re-entered the smuggling cycle to escape the prospect of indefinite detention.

Rohingya and Bangladeshis who arrived in Thailand in recent months have been systematically screened by government teams to assess the potential for human trafficking. If found to be victims of trafficking, they are transferred to shelters to facilitate their rehabilitation and investigations of suspected smugglers. UNHCR hopes that this screening can be expanded to an assessment of all international protection needs.

Most arrivals in Malaysia crossed by land from Thailand and were kept in holding houses in northern Malaysia, usually for a few days. UNHCR staff met a teenage girl who married a Rohingya man after he paid for her and her brother's release from a holding house.

As a result of the abuse and deprivations they suffered on smugglers' boats and camps, this year nearly 200 people approached UNHCR in Malaysia with beri beri disease, a form of Vitamin B1 deficiency that left them unable to walk.

Several boats arrived directly in Malaysia from the Bay of Bengal this year. Nearly 300 people who arrived on three boats were arrested. UNHCR has been able to access people from the first two boats and is seeking access to the third group. Yet others arrived by boat undetected and are living in the community.

Two-way boat traffic continued between Indonesia and Malaysia, with some Rohingya moving to Indonesia after spending some time in Malaysia. More than 100 Rohingya were registered with UNHCR in Indonesia this year.

UNHCR staff spoke to some Rohingya who tried to sail onward to Australia but returned due to bad weather, engine failure or interception by Australian authorities.

This year to date, there were 10 known interceptions of boats carrying 441 people hoping to reach Australia. Seven boats with 205 people were returned to Indonesia. All but one of 79 passengers on two boats were returned to Sri Lanka. Separately 157 people on a boat from India were transferred from the Australian mainland to an offshore processing centre in Nauru, where they remain detained.

Of the more than 6,500 people of concern to UNHCR who travelled by sea and were put in detention in the region, more than 4,600 were held in Australia or the offshore processing centres in Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

Rohingya people on a boat cross the river Naf, from Myanmar into Bangladesh, in Teknaf June 11, 2012. (Photo: REUTERS)

By UNHCR
August 22, 2014

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 22 August 2014, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

A new UNHCR report on irregular maritime movements in South East Asia estimates that 20,000 people risked their lives in sea crossings in the first half of this year. Many were Rohingya who fled Myanmar and arrived in the region suffering the effects of malnutrition and abuse during the journey. Several hundred people were also intercepted on boats heading to Australia.

The report has been produced by a newly-established Maritime Movements Monitoring Unit at UNHCR's Regional Office in Bangkok which collates information through direct interviews, and from media reports, partners and governments. It focuses on departures from the Bay of Bengal and elsewhere passing through South-East Asia, and highlights the abuses people are facing on their journeys, and developments related to Australia's Operation Sovereign Borders policy. It also shows that more than 7,000 asylum seekers and refugees who have travelled by sea are at present held in detention facilities in the region, including over 5,000 in Australia or its offshore processing centres in Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

Because of its clandestine nature, the full extent of people smuggling remains hard to determine. But in-depth interviews with survivors have offered insights into what goes on during the long and arduous journey from Myanmar and Bangladesh to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and beyond.

These developments take place in the context of a very challenging protection environment for refugees in the region. States including Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia are not signatory to the refugee convention and lack formal legal frameworks for dealing with refugees. Without a legal status they are often at risk of arrest, detention, and deportation under immigration laws. It also makes legal employment impossible and drives many people, including women and children, into exploitative and vulnerable situations.

Myanmar/Bangladesh

The report estimates that 53,000 people departed irregularly by sea from the Bay of Bengal in the 12 months ending June 2014 – a 61 per cent increase over the previous 12 months. In the two years following the June 2012 outbreak of inter-communal violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state, some 87,000 people – mostly Rohingya but also Bangladeshis among them – embarked on the dangerous journey in search of safety and stability.

The main sailing season has continued to be between October and the first quarter of the year when seas are calmer. Departures were mostly from Teknaf in Bangladesh and Maungdaw in Myanmar, with smaller numbers from Sittwe. Typically, passengers were ferried on small boats to larger fishing or cargo boats that could each hold up to 700 people. Most were men, but there were also rising numbers of women and children who were usually kept in separate quarters.

Most passengers our staff interviewed said they paid between US$50 and US$300 to board the boats and were at sea for an average of one to two weeks. Some waited for up to two months for their boat to take on more passengers. Many said they fell sick along the way. There are also unconfirmed reports of deaths due to illness, heat, a lack of food and water and severe beatings when people tried to move. Some passengers reportedly jumped off boats in desperation. Others went missing when, in one example, they were forced to swim ashore after nearing the coast off Thailand.

Thailand

In Thailand, the survivors of sea journeys said they were packed into pick-up trucks at night, and forced to sit or lie on top of up to 20 other people. They were taken to smugglers' camps in or around hills, jungles or plantations. Hundreds were confined, for up to six months, behind wooden fences with only plastic sheets to sleep on.

Many were unaware that they would need to pay more money, usually US$1,500-US$2,200, to be released. They were made to call relatives in Myanmar, Bangladesh or Malaysia to send money through hard currency, bank transfers or mobile payment systems. Those who could not pay would be beaten and detained for long periods of time.

Survivors of this ordeal told our staff about people dying in these smugglers' camps due to illness or physical injuries. Some lost sensory abilities and mobility from beriberi due to malnutrition, specifically Vitamin B1 deficiency. Three people were effectively paralyzed and abandoned by the smugglers when their camps were raided by the Thai authorities. The camps in question no longer exist, although others are believed to still be running.

As of early July, 233 Rohingya remained in Thai immigration detention centres or shelters. UNHCR is discussing different alternatives to detention with our government counterparts and other stakeholders. In the meantime we are providing the group with material assistance and counselling them on the risks of using smuggling networks. Our staff are also working with the authorities and UNICEF to enable the children to attend local schools after intensive Thai language lessons. Vulnerable individuals, including unaccompanied children, are being given particular attention to meet their specific needs.

Malaysia

In Malaysia, UNHCR has had access to 230 people who arrived directly by boat between January and June, as well as to others who landed by boat in Thailand and made their way across the land border into Malaysia. In total, more than 4,700 Rohingya were registered during this period, including 375 unaccompanied and separated children. By the end of June, more than 38,000 Rohingya had registered with UNHCR Malaysia cumulatively since the late 1990s.

The physical health and protection needs of recent arrivals remain a major concern. In the first half of the year, we saw 144 Rohingya with symptoms of beriberi. UNHCR has provided vitamin supplements for immediate treatment, and is referring cases to healthcare providers. Two Rohingya have died in hospital within a week of approaching UNHCR.

Indonesia

Sixty Rohingya approached UNHCR in Indonesia between January and June – a drop of almost 90 per cent compared to the same period last year. By the end of June 2014, there were 951 Rohingya registered with UNHCR, mainly people who arrived in previous years. Most are believed to have arrived by boat from Malaysia, together with other nationalities of arrivals to Indonesia.

Australia

In the first half of the year, nine boats travelling towards Australia with more than 400 people were intercepted by the Australian authorities under the government's Operation Sovereign Borders. Seven boats were returned to Indonesia. One boat with 41 passengers was returned to Sri Lanka following accelerated screening procedures by the government. The 157 people on board another boat that left from India were transferred to Nauru, pending a decision by the Australian High Court on how to process them.

For more information on this topic, please contact:

- In Bangkok, Vivian Tan on mobile +66 818 270 280
- In Geneva, Adrian Edwards on mobile +41 79 557 9120
- In Geneva, Dan McNorton on mobile +41 79 217 3011

The report "South-East Asia: Irregular Maritime Movements January-June 2014" is available at www.unhcr.org/53f1c5fc9.html


    • Rohingya Exodus