According to police, dozens of wooden boats overloaded with Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants have attempted to go to Thailand or Malaysia since October after the monsoon season came to an end.

On December 14, a boat carrying 110 boatpeople – mostly Rohingya – capsized in the Bay of Bengal, with some of the passengers drowning and others missing. 

Bangladeshi authorities have deployed secret agents along the border to watch for any moves by traffickers to get sea voyagers into boats to attempt the risky journey to Malaysia, said a BGB aide from Teknaf.



“However, many boats have avoided the authorities and left for Thailand and Malaysia.” 



There are over 28,000 registered refugees living in two official UN refugee camps in Bangladesh. In addition, there are about 200,000 to 300,000 "unofficial" refugees, according to government officials.



Many refugees are driven by utter frustration to attempt the boat trip to Thailand or Malaysia.

“We have no food, no education, and no health care, and even we have no security in the camp,” said a refugee who asked not to be named.  

“The risky sea journey is better than the unpleasantness and starvation in the refugee camps in Bangladesh. Refugees know that the trip is like suicide. But do we have any alternative?”



Last year, Bangladesh ended a UN-managed program to help Rohingya refugees resettle in third countries.



“We try to go to Malaysia as we think that Malaysia is the best country for carving out a new life. The majority of us hope to secure unregistered work as manual laborers on construction sites,” said another refugee leader.

“The boatpeople know that their journeys are very risky. So, it is a big question: why do the Rohingya go to Malaysia after leaving their motherland?”



UN officials have described the Rohingya as one of the most persecuted minorities on earth.