More than 300 Rohingyas have attempted to flee to Malaysia from refugee camps in Bangladesh. Women and children, in particular, spent two months on a ship.
The Bangladeshi coast guard has picked up more than 300 Rohingya Muslims. They had tried to flee to Malaysia. A week ago, Bangladesh sealed off the Cox’s Bazar district in the fight against the coronavirus. Since then, entering and leaving the district has been prohibited. More than a million Rohingyas live there in over 30 refugee camps.

Most of them are women and children who went ashore on Wednesday evening in the south of Cox’s Bazar district, said Rana from the Bangladeshi Coast Guard. The coast guard rescued some 380 starving Rohingya refugees after a week of wandering at sea. The refugees have returned to the South Asian country after their ship has been repeatedly denied access to Malaysian waters. The Rohingyas had already set out more than two months ago. “We rescued at least 382 Rohingya from a large crowded fishing boat and took her to a beach near Teknaf,” said the Coast Guard spokesman. “You were about to starve.” More than 30 people died on board the ship.

A good 700,000 Rohingyas had fled military violence from neighbouring Myanmar to Bangladesh two years ago. Many of them have since tried to get to Malaysia from Bangladesh by sea. Members of the Muslim minority have been discriminated against in their home country for decades. UN investigators speak of a “continuing genocide”.