2 REGIONAL OVERVIEW AGE AND GENDER BREAKDOWN OF SURVIVORS OF SEA JOURNEYS IN 2020 Source: Data from UN High Commissioner for Refugees life in Malaysia, Australia, and other countries.27 Between 2012 and 2015, UNHCR estimates that 112,500 Rohingya embarked on such journeys; during this time, an unknown number died at sea.28 In May 2015, following a regional crackdown on human trafficking, thousands of Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi migrants were left stranded on boats after being abandoned by human traffickers.29 Regional governments began implementing a push‑back policy, in what was described at the time as “human ping pong”.30 Such push-backs constitute a violation of the principle of non-refoulement, as well as of the obligation to rescue people in distress at sea. It was not until fisherfolk in Indonesia’s Aceh province intervened that Indonesian and other regional authorities began likewise undertaking search and rescue operations. The crisis generated significant international criticism, and in response, regional governments convened a Special Retreat on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean which was held in Bangkok in late May 2015. There, attendees restated their commitment to undertaking search-and-rescue operations, allowing disembarkation, ensuring timely provision of humanitarian access and protecting the rights of victims of human trafficking and migrants.31 However, there has been little concrete follow-up on these commitments.32 Similarly, the Bali Process, a regional forum for policy dialogue, information sharing, and cooperation on issues related to people smuggling, trafficking persons and related transnational crime, has remained largely ineffective in addressing the crisis.33 The 2016 Declaration adopted at the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the Bali Process committed states to protection activities and search and rescue and to “timely and proactive consultation to respond to emergency situations”.34 However, no emergency meeting has been convened. Meanwhile, Rohingya have continued to flee persecution in Myanmar and ongoing insecurity in Bangladesh and in 2020, some 2,400 Rohingya, including children, boarded rickety boats. UNHCR estimates that during the year, one in every 12 Rohingya who embarked on these journeys lost their lives at sea.35 Journeys by sea have always been dangerous for Rohingya, but the risks have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. From March 2020, as regional governments sought to contain the spread of the virus, they closed their borders to refugees, and from April 2020 – much as they did in 2015 – they have attempted to turn away boats carrying Rohingya refugees.36 While some were eventually able to disembark in Malaysia and subsequently detained or placed in quarantine centres,37 306 refugees (33 of them children) were returned to Bangladesh, where they were transferred to the remote island of Bhasan Char, where they remain confined.38 Around the same time, Malaysia saw an alarming increase in anti-Rohingya sentiment, often propagated online and in the media by state officials, sparking concerns for the safety of Rohingya already in the country.39 7