because it was safer and cheaper than going to and living in Malaysia. Unlike the previous maritime route across the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, in which at least 1,800 refugees and migrants are believed to have died at sea from smuggler abuse and deprivation, the primary protection concern of Rohingya travelling to India was the risk of being detained for illegal entry to India. Abuse by smugglers was not common, as most Rohingya in India had engaged only a loose network of people smugglers and only at border-crossing points, in contrast to the professional and multinational smuggling networks that operated the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea route. Rohingya refugee children in India. © UNHCR/Saw Myint The crackdown on maritime smuggling networks since May and June 2015 has not resulted in an increase of Rohingya travelling to India. In the 18 months following the crackdown, Rohingya registration with UNHCR in India actually declined by 23% compared to the 18-month period prior to the crackdown. Recorded arrivals have similarly decreased since reaching a peak of 4,500 in 2013, suggesting that the overland route to India has not replaced the maritime route to Malaysia, but is rather a separate route catering to generally poorer Rohingya with less sophisticated means of travel and communication. Disrupted movements to Malaysia Throughout 2016, refugee communities circulated rumours of isolated attempts to travel from Myanmar to Malaysia by boat, particularly in October and November, but corresponding arrivals by boat have not been conirmed. Some Rohingya refugees who were rescued by Achenese isherman in Indonesia in May 2015 were believed to have reached Malaysia in 2016 by crossing the Malacca Strait. That crossing, though relatively short and cheap, remained deadly, with over 100 migrants dying in capsizes between January 2016 and January 2017, including one in November that killed 54 Indonesian migrant workers. No refugees were known to be among the dead. Overland, over 100 people were caught by authorities in Myanmar and Thailand attempting the road journey to Malaysia in 2016, about half of whom were Rohingya. Some had paid up to MMK 2.8 million (USD 2,050) each to reach Malaysia. 7