Says UNHCR report
Staff Correspondent
An
estimated 54,000 people, mostly from Bangladesh and Myanmar, have
voyaged to Malaysia and Thailand this year, and 540 people among them
have reportedly died, says a new report by the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees.
This includes about 53,000 people leaving the Bay of Bengal for Thailand and Malaysia, says the January-November report titled "Irregular Maritime Movements in Southeast Asia” released on Friday.
The rest, especially those from different South Asian countries, first arrived in Indonesia through the Indian Ocean and made it to Australia from there. However, those from Malaysia reached Indonesia crossing the Strait of Malacca, according to the report.
“The outflow from the Bay of Bengal tends to peak in October, when calmer waters follow the end of the rainy season,” says the report prepared by the UNHCR Regional Office.
UNHCR, however, has not specified the number of Bangladeshis among them.
About 21,000 Rohingyas and Bangladeshis have made these voyages since October this year, a 37-percent increase over the same period last year. About 10 percent of them are believed to be women.
Roughly a third of these people interviewed by the UNHCR in Thailand and Malaysia were under 18 years. Children as young as eight years old are known to have made the journey alone, the UN refugee agency says.
In all, some 120,000 people are believed to have embarked on these voyages through the Bay of Bengal since the start of 2012.
With payments ranging from US$1,600 to US$2,400 for each passenger, smugglers plying this route are believed to have earned nearly US$250 million in the last three years, the report adds.
While the majority of people paid smugglers for the journey, there were people who said they were forced into making the voyages, 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,” it says.
People who asked for more food or tried to use the toilet out of turn were beaten 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,” the report mentions.
This includes about 53,000 people leaving the Bay of Bengal for Thailand and Malaysia, says the January-November report titled "Irregular Maritime Movements in Southeast Asia” released on Friday.
The rest, especially those from different South Asian countries, first arrived in Indonesia through the Indian Ocean and made it to Australia from there. However, those from Malaysia reached Indonesia crossing the Strait of Malacca, according to the report.
“The outflow from the Bay of Bengal tends to peak in October, when calmer waters follow the end of the rainy season,” says the report prepared by the UNHCR Regional Office.
UNHCR, however, has not specified the number of Bangladeshis among them.
About 21,000 Rohingyas and Bangladeshis have made these voyages since October this year, a 37-percent increase over the same period last year. About 10 percent of them are believed to be women.
Roughly a third of these people interviewed by the UNHCR in Thailand and Malaysia were under 18 years. Children as young as eight years old are known to have made the journey alone, the UN refugee agency says.
In all, some 120,000 people are believed to have embarked on these voyages through the Bay of Bengal since the start of 2012.
With payments ranging from US$1,600 to US$2,400 for each passenger, smugglers plying this route are believed to have earned nearly US$250 million in the last three years, the report adds.
While the majority of people paid smugglers for the journey, there were people who said they were forced into making the voyages, 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,” it says.
People who asked for more food or tried to use the toilet out of turn were beaten 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,” the report mentions.
Published: 12:00 am Sunday, December 07, 2014
Last modified: 12:46 am Sunday, December 07, 2014
