UN refugee agency warns of ‘an unmarked graveyard for thousands of desperate Rohingya refugees’ in South Asia
Published on 17 April 2026
The UN refugee agency has revealed that nearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported dead or missing in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea in 2025.
The United Nations said on Friday that it was the deadliest year ever for maritime activities in South and Southeast Asia and that thousands of people are still making the dangerous journeys in 2026.
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Speaking to journalists in Geneva, Babar Baloch, a spokesperson for the UNHCR, described the area as an “unmarked graveyard for thousands of desperate Rohingya refugees”, noting that some 5,000 had drowned at sea in the past decade.
Thousands of Rohingya refugees began fleeing Myanmar in 2017 amid a campaign of ethnic cleansing. They largely settled in refugee camps in Bangladesh, which continues to shelter those fleeing today.
However, humanitarian aid has been reduced in the country due to a lack of funding, and there is limited access to education and opportunities in the camps, prompting people to attempt the dangerous sea crossing.
More than 2,800 Rohingya have done so this year, with most leaving Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar or Myanmar’s Rakhine state in the hope of reaching Malaysia or Indonesia.
While Baloch says most people wish to return to Myanmar when conditions are favorable, “they actually have little hope of doing so due to the ongoing conflict, persecution, and lack of citizenship prospects”.
In recent years, more than half of seafarers have been women and children, who are at risk of trafficking and exploitation.
fatal journeys
Earlier this month, an overcrowded trawler carrying about 250 Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals sank in the Andaman Sea. It was en route from the southern Bangladeshi port of Teknaf to Malaysia when it encountered rough seas and heavy winds on 8 April. While the Bangladeshi coast guard said it had rescued nine people, hundreds remained missing.
UNHCR hopes that highlighting the record deaths will make people aware of “what the Rohingya are going through inside Myanmar and in refugee camps and the wider region”, and lead to quick solutions to avoid another record death toll in 2026.
