Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh: Over 1,300 boat people have died en route to Malaysia and hundreds have been ill-treated in overcrowded camps run by human traffickers and smugglers in Thailand, according to a statement released on June 11th by a representative of the UNHCR office in Bangladesh, Ms. Stina Ljungdell.
The UNHCR estimates that over 86,000 people have left the region on boats since June 2012, and that nearly 730 people reportedly died while attempting to reach Malaysia in the second half of 2012. However, the total number of people who died during 2013 decreased to 615, possibly due to the use of larger and more stable cargo boats, according to the UNHCR statement.
In the statement, Stina Ljungdell noted that “thousands of Rohingya have continued to flee Myanmar and seek safety elsewhere. Abuse and exploitation are common along the way and many lose their lives at sea.”
According to sources at Bangladesh’s Home Ministry, the small ships used to transport Rohingyas to third countries are anchored along the Naaf River, an inlet of the Bay of Bengal separates Bangladesh and Burma. The Home Ministry sources also said that human smuggling and trafficking operations are run by a cartel of people from Bangladesh and Burma.
Bangladeshi Home Minister, Asaduzzaman Khan, has publicly stated that Bangladesh has zero tolerance for Rohingyas crossing into Bangladesh from Burma, and that all the government agencies—including police officers, Border Guard Bangladesh, and Bangladesh’s Coast Guard—have recently beefed up surveillance activities along the border to prevent such “illegal intrusions.”
Rohingyas from Burma use Bangladesh as the transit point for entering Malaysia by sea or entering India by land, although the most common destination for Rohingya refugees after Malaysia is Saudi Arabia, according to a recent study by Dhaka University’s Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit. The study also said that it costs between 40,000-60,000 Bangladesh Taka to reach Malaysia and that no documents are required for the trip.
According to the Deputy Commissioner of the Bangladeshi border town of Cox’s Bazar, Ruhul Amin, Rohingyas have previously attempted to immigrate to Bangladesh by sea disguised as fishermen, and that Bangladesh hasn’t been able to estimate the number of people who have entered Bangladesh this way.
However, Ruhul Amin claims that the number of Rohingyas attempting to enter Bangladesh has recently declined “to almost zero” because they are now seeking to settle in third countries. In large part, this is due to what Bangladeshi Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan has described as Bangladesh’s “zero tolerance” policy towards Rohingya immigrants.
“Rohingya who have entered Bangladesh in the past are [now] managing to migrate to third countries using fake documents. At present, the intrusion has stopped,” said the Deputy Commissioner.
According to different sources from within the Rohingya community, many Rohingya have fled Burma’s Arakan State and attempted to reach Malaysia by sea since 2012 because they’re faced with various forms of persecution in Arakan State, such as violence, extortion, and restrictions on movement and marriage.
