More than 500 people are feared dead after two boats carrying Rohingya refugees disappeared in rough conditions off the coast of Myanmar, according to the International Organization for Migration and the UN Refugee Agency.
Background
The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim ethnic minority group from Myanmar’s Rakhine state, who have faced decades of state-sponsored persecution, violence, and what the US has classified as genocide.
Many refugees continue to make perilous sea journeys on rickety boats to flee the violence in Myanmar, which has been in the throes of a bloody civil war for more than five years.
The UN agencies have called for stronger regional and international efforts to prevent further deaths along one of the world’s deadliest maritime routes.
Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.
