Rohingya boat capsize: Death toll rises to 23 as more bodies found

The boat carrying Rohingya Muslims capsized at Shar Porir DWIP southern tip of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Saturday that her government would continue to support almost 1 million Rohingya Muslims who have fled neighboring Myanmar to escape violence. Among the dead were 19 children, 18 women and nine men.

The Bangladesh Foreign Minister on Tuesday said that Myanmar was prepared to clear the area inhabited by the Rohingyas at least a month before a rebel attack against security posts on August 25, which led to a military campaign and humanitarian crisis in the region.

In a race to prevent a cholera outbreak among the more than half a million Rohingya refugee arrivals over the past six weeks in Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh, United Nations agencies launched on Tuesday a massive immunization campaign.

The Rohingyas are not recognised by Myanmar as its citizens and are called Bengali by them.

Terming the influx of Rohingya people into Bangladesh a humanitarian crisis, Lord Ahmad said the United Kingdom government will pledge 30 million pounds in support of the refugees.

We review the latest issues related to refugees, including a new wave of Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar, protests over ration cuts in Uganda and a migrant boat sinking off Tunisia.

More than half of the victims in the latest disaster were children, said Mian Uddin, police chief for the border town of Teknaf.

He said some 40 people in the boat were adult Rohingya Muslims fleeing their villages in Rakhine.

“We feel deeply sorry for the reaction from global countries based on news without truth”.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and Unicef, meanwhile, have begun a massive cholera vaccination campaign near the south-eastern Bangladeshi town of Cox’s Bazar, which they hope will also prevent diarrhoeal diseases in overcrowded camps that lack clean water or sanitation.

Last week the guards destroyed at least 30 wooden fishing vessels amid increased concern they were being used to bring the popular methamphetamine drug known locally as Yaba into the country and using the refugee crisis as cover.

The family had walked for several days from Buthidaung to reach the riverbank, where hundreds more Rohingya were waiting to escape.