A boat accident is said to have occurred off the coast of Myanmar. (symbol image)
Image: keystone
More than 500 people are missing in two possible refugee disasters in Southeast Asia.
July 16, 2026, 12:18 p.mJuly 16, 2026, 12:56 p.m
Two boats that relatives say set off from the coast of Myanmar into the Bay of Bengal are missing, report the UN Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). “There are no reports of survivors so far,” an IOM spokesman told dpa.
Most of the people on board were Rohingya, i.e. members of the Muslim minority that has been harassed for decades in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.
Organized human trafficking network
Information about the boats comes from affected families, news portals and aid groups that the UN organizations consider credible. Verifications are difficult in Myanmar. The military has controlled the country since a coup in 2021 and rebel groups are active everywhere. It is possible that tragedies like this will never be verified, the IOM spokesman said.
The organization Rohingya Rights Watch fears 530 dead, including women and children. She blames an organized, cross-border human trafficking network that repeatedly puts refugees’ lives in danger. People from the huge Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh are also said to have been on board. People have been living there in cramped conditions for years and many no longer see any prospects for the future.
Corpses on the beach and in the sea
According to a report by the Rohingya Khobor news portal, a boat with around 250 people on board capsized not far from the coast. The people are said to have tried to flee to Malaysia – a crossing that can take two weeks in dangerous waters. According to local residents, corpses were washed up on the coast, according to the report on the news portal. The information could not be independently confirmed.
IOM and UNHCR report that contact with a second boat with around 280 people on board was lost shortly after takeoff. According to the information, it is said to have sunk on July 8th. The portal Action Against Rohingya Atrocities (AARA) writes that fishermen off the coast saw numerous bodies in the sea. This, too, could not be independently verified.
“Although the incidents and the number of casualties have not yet been officially confirmed, the UNHCR and the IOM are deeply concerned about the potentially devastating loss of life,” the organizations said. (dab/sda/dpa)