Malaysia.2 Regional networks of traffickers and smugglers, many of whom involve local
authorities in Myanmar and Bangladesh, facilitated Rohingya’s sea crossings and often
subjected them to bribery and extortion, torture, and sexual violence – putting their life at
risk in unseaworthy and overcrowded boats.3 The 2015 discovery of at least 100 corpses,
mostly Rohingya (reportedly starved, and some tortured, to death), in human trafficking
camps at the Thai-Malaysian border evidenced the life-threatening conditions to which
many had been subjected en route to Malaysia.4 Even after reaching their final destination,
none of these refugees were fully guaranteed asylum or protection. Governments and
security forces often imprisoned them in squalid immigration detention centers without
access to basic humanitarian services, and risked them with forcible deportation to
Myanmar under its still-genocidal conditions.5
Recent degradation in Rohingya’s already
precarious conditions in their homes in
Myanmar, particularly since the Burmese
military’s attempted coup, as well as in
refugee camps in Bangladesh, has forced
the decades-long deadly sea crossings to
reach a new peak. According to the
UNHCR, in addition to the 2000 Rohingya
fleeing over land, the year 2023 in fact
saw the highest number of Rohingya
refugees taking to the Andaman Sea and
the Bay of Bengal in a decade, and was the “deadliest year”: at least 4,338 Rohingya
2
Chris Lewa, “Asia’s new boat people,” Forced Migration Review 30 (April 2008): 40-42.
https://www.fmreview.org/sites/default/files/FMRdownloads/en/FMRpdfs/FMR30/FMR30.pdf; “UNHCR, Report on
irregular maritime movements in South East Asia, January-June 2014,” Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, June 30, 2014,
https://reliefweb.int/report/thailand/south-east-asia-irregular-maritime-movements-january-june-2014; “Southeast
Asia: Accounts from Rohingya Boat People: Denial of Rights in Burma, Bangladesh Lead to Trafficking and
Dangerous Sea Voyages,” Human Rights Watch, May 27, 2015,
https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/05/27/southeast-asia-accounts-rohingya-boat-people; “UNHCR, Report on
irregular maritime movements in South East Asia, April-June 2015,” Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees, September 1, 2015,
https://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/south-east-asia-mixed-maritime-movements-april-june-2015.
3
Lewa,“Asia’s new boat people”; “Perilous Plight: Burma’s Rohingya Take to the Seas,” Human Rights Watch, May
26, 2009, https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/05/26/perilous-plight/burmas-rohingya-take-seas.
4
“Thailand: Mass Graves of Rohingya Found in Trafficking Camp: Independent Investigation Needed to Determine
Facts, Prosecute Traffickers,” Human Rights Watch, May 1, 2015,
https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/05/01/thailand-mass-graves-rohingya-found-trafficking-camp; Simon Lewis, “Mass
graves of suspected trafficking victims found in Malaysia,” The Guardian, May 24, 2015,
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/24/mass-graves-trafficking-malaysia-perlis; Praveen Menon,
“Malaysia finds 139 graves in ‘cruel’ jungle trafficking camps,” Reuters, May 25, 2015,
https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0OA06W/.
5
“Malaysia/Burma: Living in Limbo: Burmese Rohingyas in Malaysia,” Human Rights Watch, August 1, 2000,
https://www.hrw.org/report/2000/08/01/malaysia/burma-living-limbo-burmese-rohingyas-malaysia; “Myanmar’s
unwanted boat people,” Al Jazeera, February 11, 2009,
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2009/2/11/myanmars-unwanted-boat-people.
3