UN: Hundreds of Rohingya Refugees Lost at Sea in 2022
2023-01-19
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1The United Nations refugee agency has reported a big rise in the number of Rohingya refugees who died at sea in 2022.
2The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said at least 348 people died or disappeared while trying to flee Myanmar or Bangladesh by boat.
3The agency said more than 3,500 Rohingya tried sea crossings in the Bay of Bengal or the Andaman Sea last year.
4That is five times more than the year before.
5UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo said the big increase suggests there is despair among the population of refugees.
6Mantoo said: "We are hearing reports...from Rohingya about this growing sense of desperation and anxiety about the future."
7She added that many are being exploited by human traffickers who give false promises and false hope.
8She said most of the 39 boats making the sea crossings last year left Myanmar and Bangladesh.
9In the last two months of 2022, the UNHCR said 450 Rohingya arrived in Aceh, Indonesia.
10Another boat carrying 100 people disembarked in Sri Lanka.
11A boat carrying 180 Rohingya Muslims is feared to have sunk in December.
12The UNHCR said it had called on maritime officials in the area to rescue people at sea.
13But those requests had been ignored and boats have been at sea for weeks.
14In August 2017, more than 750,000 Rohingya Muslims who faced violence and persecution in Myanmar fled to Cox's Bazaar in Bangladesh.
15They have been living in overcrowded camps with other refugees since then.
16The UNHCR says conditions in Myanmar have not improved and it remains unsafe for the Rohingya to return.
17The group is barred from receiving citizenship.
18I'm Jill Robbins.
1The United Nations refugee agency has reported a big rise in the number of Rohingya refugees who died at sea in 2022. 2The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said at least 348 people died or disappeared while trying to flee Myanmar or Bangladesh by boat. 3The agency said more than 3,500 Rohingya tried sea crossings in the Bay of Bengal or the Andaman Sea last year. That is five times more than the year before. 4UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo said the big increase suggests there is despair among the population of refugees. 5Mantoo said: "We are hearing reports...from Rohingya about this growing sense of desperation and anxiety about the future." She added that many are being exploited by human traffickers who give false promises and false hope. She said most of the 39 boats making the sea crossings last year left Myanmar and Bangladesh. 6In the last two months of 2022, the UNHCR said 450 Rohingya arrived in Aceh, Indonesia. Another boat carrying 100 people disembarked in Sri Lanka. A boat carrying 180 Rohingya Muslims is feared to have sunk in December. 7The UNHCR said it had called on maritime officials in the area to rescue people at sea. But those requests had been ignored and boats have been at sea for weeks. 8In August 2017, more than 750,000 Rohingya Muslims who faced violence and persecution in Myanmar fled to Cox's Bazaar in Bangladesh. They have been living in overcrowded camps with other refugees since then. 9The UNHCR says conditions in Myanmar have not improved and it remains unsafe for the Rohingya to return. The group is barred from receiving citizenship. 10I'm Jill Robbins. 11Lisa Schlein reported this story for VOANEWS. Mario Ritter, Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. 12__________________________________________________________________ 13Words in This Story 14despair -n. a feeling of extreme sadness 15exploit -v. to use someone in an unfair or cruel way-n. 16desperation -n. a strong feeling of sadness and loss of hope 17anxiety -n. a feeling of tension and nervousness 18disembark -v. to leave a boat or to get off of a boat, plane or other means of transportation 19__________________________________________________________________ 20We want to hear from you. 21We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 22Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.