Two overcrowded boats carrying more than 500 Rohingya refugees are feared to have sunk off Myanmar’s coast, raising fresh concerns over one of the world’s deadliest migration routes, according to United Nations agencies.
The vessels reportedly left Rakhine State in late June, carrying mostly Rohingya, an ethnic Muslim minority long persecuted in Myanmar. Some passengers were believed to have come from refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands have lived in difficult conditions for years.
Preliminary information from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) suggests that one boat, carrying about 250 people, lost contact shortly after departure. A second vessel, with around 280 people on board, is believed to have sunk near the Irrawaddy coast on July 8. More than 500 people are feared dead, though the figures have not yet been officially confirmed.
UN agencies described the potential loss of life as “devastating,” noting that the journeys took place outside the usual sailing season, when seas are especially dangerous.
For years, Rohingya families have risked such perilous crossings, fleeing violence in Myanmar and overcrowded camps in Bangladesh in search of safety and work in countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.
Their mass displacement began in 2017, when a military crackdown in Rakhine State forced over 700,000 people to flee. Since then, conditions have worsened, particularly after Myanmar’s 2021 military coup, which plunged the country into civil war.
According to the UN, nearly 900 Rohingya died or went missing at sea last year. Hundreds more have already been reported missing in 2026, underlining the continuing human cost of a crisis with no clear end.
