As per the reports of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration(IOM), a boat carrying more than 250 people who were Rohingya refugees and other Bangladeshi nationals, capsized in the Andaman Sea. All the people travelling on the boat are missing and search operations are underway, said the United Nations Refugees and Migration agencies.
As per the latest update, the whereabouts about the boat and the missing people are unknown. There is no status from the search operations. According to UNHRC, the trawler(a boat predominantly used for fishing) departed from Teknaf situated in the Southern Bangladesh district of Cox’s Bazar and it was set to take a large number of people to Malaysia. However, unable to bear the strong winds, rough seas, the trawler that was taking more than its carrying capacity lost control of navigation and capsized in the Andaman Sea.
While addressing about the sinking of the overcrowded boat, the United Nations Refugees Commission and the International Organisation for Migration(IOM) also flagged the precarious and vulnerable status of the Rohingya refugees. They highlighted how stateless people are deprived of education, employment and other basic humanitarian assistance as well. Thus they are easily vulnerable to repeated radicalisation and other illicit channels as they go in quest of employment, identity and other basic necessities. This causes serious security risks for the nations in the region and leads to instability in the entire South Asian landscape.
The Rohingya refugees embark on risky voyages and aim to penetrate into countries through illegal means. This illegal migration indeed poses a serious national security threat. Their stateless situation is often misused by the anti-national elements and miscreants. For example, they are recruited and radicalised to espouse anti-national activities in the region. For example, Rohingya refugees are used as tools for militant activities, drug trafficking and other organised crimes that causes greater security harm to the entire regional landscape. The refugees are often pitched to destabilize the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of the nations including India.
The international organisations also noted that finding a durable and lasting solution to the Rohingya refugees problem is a herculean task. As an impact of the ongoing ethnic violence and military coup in Myanmar and particularly in the Rakhine region of the country, the Rohingya refugees refuse to go back to Myanmar. The UNHRC thus urged Bangladesh to ensure safety, security and stability of the Rohingya refugees as the country houses more than one million people from the displaced stateless community, who have illegally migrated from Myanmar. Meanwhile, Bangladesh considers repatriation of the Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar as the solution.
However, it is not practically possible due to the domestic political reality of Myanmar and low diplomatic key between the two nations. The earlier efforts of Dhaka in 2018 & 2019 to send back the refugees failed. Thus the stakes are high on the newly elected BNP government in Bangladesh led by Tarique Rahman, to find a durable and practical solution to the problems triggered by the Rohingya crisis. However, the election campaign barely addressed the Rohingya issue. As per the data, Bangladesh has 11,82,755 Rohingya refugees from 2,45,998 families which includes 1,43,327 new arrivals. Meanwhile, the illegal migration of Rohingyas into countries in South Asia and beyond, including India, remains as a major security concern.
