Record number of Rohingya refugees to die at sea in 2025: UNHCR

Around 5,000 Rohingya refugees are believed to have drowned at sea over the past decade. “Sadly, this turns the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal into unmarked graves for thousands of desperate Rohingya refugees.” said UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch, speaking in Geneva.

Since 2012, nearly 200,000 Rohingya refugees have risked their lives on dangerous sea journeys to escape misery and persecution. In 2017, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Myanmar to Bangladesh, amid persecution deemed an “example of ethnic cleansing” carried out by the then regime. UN Human Rights ChairZeid Ra’ad al-Hussein.

Earlier this week, UNHCR reported news that hundreds of missing Rohingya were believed to have drowned after a ship sank in the Andaman Sea on April 8, off the coast of the country that hosts many of the persecuted minority, Bangladesh.

Myanmar is not safe to return to

“While the vast majority of Rohingya refugees want to return to Myanmar once conditions allow for a voluntary, dignified and safe return, the ongoing conflict, persecution and lack of prospects of citizenship have left them with no hope,” Baloch stressed.

“No one would put their family on a risky boat knowing that the chances of survival are very low if there is no sense of hopelessness. If there is no hope, we fear that more people will lose their lives,” he continued.

With no sign of an end to these deadly sea crossings yet, UNHCR hopes that by marking this record high number of deaths, the world “knows what the Rohingya people are experiencing inside Myanmar and in refugee camps and in the wider region and steps forward to provide solutions for desperate Rohingya refugees, so that we do not see 2026 being another deadly year”.