REUTERS
February 26, 2021 at 16:35 JST
Rohingya refugees headed to Bhasan Char island board navy vessels from the south eastern port city of Chattogram, Bangladesh, on Feb.15. (AP Photo)
NEW DELHI--India’s coast guard found 81 survivors and eight dead on a boat crammed with Rohingya refugees adrift in the Andaman Sea, an Indian foreign ministry official said on Friday, adding that the survivors would not be allowed to enter Indian territory.
Another refugee was missing, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said on Thursday, giving news of the rescue.
The United Nations refugee agency had raised the alarm earlier this week over the missing boat, which had set off on Feb. 11 from Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, where refugee camps have been established for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have fled neighboring Myanmar.
After four days at sea the boat’s engine failed, and the Rohingya had run out of food and water and many were ill and suffering from extreme dehydration by the time they were rescued, Srivastava said.
Two Indian coast guard ships were sent to help the refugees, 23 of whom were children, and the Indian government is in discussions with Bangladesh to ensure their safe return, he said.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to Bangladesh after a deadly crackdown by security forces in Myanmar in 2017.
Authorities in Bangladesh said on Monday they were unaware of any boats leaving the camps.
Traffickers demand payments for Rohingya stranded at sea
June 16, 2020Malaysia to ask Bangladesh to take back Rohingya refugees
June 10, 2020Rohingya refugees tell Malaysia how dozens died in 4-month voyage
June 24, 2020Malaysia detains 269 Rohingyas, finds body in damaged boat
June 9, 2020Missing Rohingya refugees found alive on Malaysian islet
July 27, 2020
Malaysia spares Rohingya refugees from caning
July 22, 2020
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
