Increasing numbers of Rohingya refugees are making dangerous sea journeys from Myanmar as the conflict there ramps up, the UN refugee agency has reported.

“Intense conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine State has worsened the plight of the persecuted an effectively stateless Rohingya Muslim minority, forcing more people to flee by boat,” UNHCR said in a statement.

The agency says hundreds of civilians have been killed by indiscriminate shelling, aerial bombardments and landmines, while others have been forcibly recruited, displaced or cut off from their livelihoods and essential goods and services, including health care, food and clean water.

The conflict has also severely restricted the amount of humanitarian aid that UN agencies, and other humanitarian organisations have been able to deliver to camps for displaced Rohingya.

Humanitarian access to parts of Rakhine State has been challenging since the conflict reignited in November 2023, although some assistance is still provided by local partners and volunteers, UNHCR says.

The Rohingya have long faced violence and discrimination in Myanmar, but the current conflict has re-kindled long-simmering tensions between Rohingya and Rakhine communities.

Despite the risks, increasing numbers of Rohingya are making similar journeys. Last year, more than 7,800 attempted to flee Myanmar by boat – an 80 per cent increase compared to 2023 – of which over 650 died or went missing. A further 700 have taken boats since the start of this year. 

While in 2023, the majority of boats departed from Bangladesh, which hosts over a million Rohingya refugees in camps in Cox’s Bazar, since last year most boats have been leaving directly from Myanmar.

The boats from Myanmar have been pushed back out to sea by the Malaysian and Thai navies.

Some have recently been allowed to come ashore in Aceh, Indonesia.

UNHCR is working with the local government and the International Organization for Migration to manage seven temporary sites in Aceh and North Sumatra where Rohingya refugees have been staying since arriving by boat.

Only two of them in Aceh have been designated by the government as formal sites with adequate conditions. UNHCR is providing food through a local partner organization as well as security, counselling and other services to support the refugees. 

With the calmer waters between monsoon seasons and the situation in Myanmar continuing to deteriorate, more Rohingya are expected to risk such journeys in the coming weeks. UNHCR has called on States in the region to prioritise saving lives and to ensure that measures to control borders do not affect the rights of people to reach safety.

Read more here: More refugees risk dangerous sea journeys from Myanmar as crisis worsens | UNHCR