More than 500 feared dead amid reports of Rohingya refugee boats capsizing

More than 500 people are feared dead after reports of two boats carrying Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya minority capsized in the Bay of Bengal, officials said Thursday. The International Organization for Migration and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said the vessels left Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine in late June, with mostly Rohingya passengers, including people who had traveled from refugee camps in Bangladesh. One boat, thought to have around 250 people, lost contact shortly after departure, while a second reportedly carrying 280 people sank off Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady coast on July 8. The agencies said the figures were not yet officially confirmed but called the potential loss of life devastating. They warned that monsoon conditions, heavy rain and flooding made such journeys especially dangerous, with about 1.2 million stateless Rohingya trapped in Bangladesh’s overcrowded camps. UNHCR and IOM urged stronger regional and international action, including search and rescue, asylum access, and efforts against smuggling and trafficking networks.