Many Rohingya believed dead after stranding off India’s coast

• 16-20 Rohingya may have perished of thirst, hunger, or drowning.
• Five Indian ships approached the stranded boat late Tuesday.
• New Delhi activist Priyali Sur said the situation on the boat is “worsening”

16-20 Rohingya may have perished of thirst, hunger, or drowning, family and activists said.

Five Indian ships approached the stranded boat late Tuesday, Reuters said.

We expect 20 deaths… Others went overboard from hunger and thirst. Chris Lewa, head of the Arakan Project, which supports Myanmar’s Rohingya, called it “outrageous.”

New Delhi activist Priyali Sur said the situation on the boat is “worsening.”

“When I called the boaters on December 7, they stated two children had died. Two people jumped into the water out of despair, she claimed.

“They’ve been at sea 25 days. They lack food and water.

The Rohingya Working Group of Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network reported the group had been lost for two weeks.

The group’s chair, Lilianne Fan, reported late Friday night that Indian boats were approaching the yacht.

“We hope the Indian Navy or coastguard may rescue and offload the boat shortly. These folks had been adrift for two weeks without food and water. We’ve heard 16 may have died.”

Rohingya refugee Muhammed Rezuwan Khan told Al Jazeera that his widowed sister Fatim Un Nisa, 27, and her 5-year-old daughter Umi Salima are on the boat.

“On November 25, she fled Cox’s Bazar. One of her two daughters is with us. Many people have perished and ran out of essentials, we learned. The situation is desperate. We worry about them.”

Khan said the world should help refugees.

Many Rohingya board shaky boats to escape persecution in Myanmar and misery in Bangladesh refugee camps.

Many want Malaysia.

Sri Lanka’s navy rescued around 100 Rohingya on the weekend.

The UN refugee agency issued a notice on December 2 about a spike in Bangladeshi and Myanmar trying to traverse the Andaman Sea.

The UN statement stated the Southeast Asia waterway is one of the deadliest in the world and that more than 1,900 people had tried to cross since January.

More than 730,000 Rohingya left Myanmar in 2018 after a military crackdown that included mass executions and rape.

Media and rights groups documented civilian deaths and village burnings.

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