VOA新闻杂志2023--More Rohingya Refugees Fleeing Bangladesh by Boat This Year

More Rohingya Refugees Fleeing Bangladesh by Boat This Year

The number of Rohingya taking risky¹ boat trips to flee refugee camps in Bangladesh is rising even higher than last year. Human rights groups and aid agencies told VOA that those numbers could keep rising.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner² for Refugees, UNHCR, said in a statement that a boat with 150 Rohingya on board landed in western Indonesia Saturday morning. Amnesty International's Indonesia office told VOA it had confirmed the landing as well.

That brings the total number of Rohingya fleeing across the Andaman Sea by boat to 3,722 so far this year, says the UNHCR.

In its statement, the refugee agency said it had also received several reports of two more boats with broken engines stranded³ in the Andaman Sea. Those boats hold 400 or more people. The agency issued an urgent search and rescue call to countries in the area.

In 2022, the UNHCR counted 3,705 Rohingya who tried to flee. That was the most for any year since 2015.

December is a time when the waters are somewhat calm. And it is the time when most Rohingya try to leave. UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch noted⁴, "We can't predict what is going to happen in December, but if we look at last year, 2022, the last three months were the ... busiest."

More to come

The Rohingya is a mostly Muslim minority from Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Nearly 1 million currently live in several large refugee camps in eastern Bangladesh.

Most arrived in 2017, fleeing what the U.N. calls a campaign of "genocidal intent" by the Myanmar military.

Now, some try to flee by boat to Malaysia or Indonesia, both Muslim-majority countries. Several hundred have died attempting to flee on old and overcrowded boats. Entire boats filled with refugees are believed to have been lost at sea.

Chris Lewa is with the Arakan Project, a group that closely follows the issue. She told VOA, "I believe there will be a lot more people on the way, but to [give] a figure ... is impossible."

Reasons for the increase

Aid groups and the Rohingya blame worsening conditions in the camps in Bangladesh for the increase in attempts to flee. The refugees complain of rising gang violence, a lack of jobs and schools, and little food.

The U.N. World Food Program is the main source of food aid for the refugees. In June, it reduced the amount of monthly food aid, for the second time, to $8 per person per month. The agency blamed lack of donor⁵ support for the cuts.

Additionally, the Rohingya are losing hope that they will be able to return safely to Myanmar where they are mostly denied citizenship⁶.

Mohammed Rezuwan Khan is a Rohingya refugee. He said, "...All these things [are] driving the people to take the dangerous sea journeys." Khan said his sister and niece knew the risks but still fled by boat last year. They made it to Indonesia.

In years past, the boats carried mostly single men and women. But the UNHCR says more families with children are now traveling together. This year nearly a third of those making the dangerous trip are children.

Losing their lives

UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch says Indonesia is the only country willing to take in the Rohingya. A 2016 presidential decision in Indonesia ordered officials to aid any boats at risk in the country's waters and to let them land.

However, that may be starting to change. Last month, a boat that reached Aceh in Indonesia was reportedly pushed back out to sea twice. On the third try, it made it to land.

A representative of Amnesty International blamed this on the national government's failure to assist local officials in their efforts to help the refugees.

Should Indonesia stop helping⁷, experts say more Rohingya will die when they cannot reach land at all. The UNHCR counted 348 dead or missing among those who set out in 2022 and 225 so far this year.

Baloch said, "We saw last year the consequences of not having a safe port or a safe place to disembark. These people risk losing their lives."

Words in This Story

stranded – v. left without the means to move from somewhere.

urgent – adj. calling for immediate⁸ attention

predict – v. to declare in advance : foretell⁹ on the basis of observation, experience, or reasoning

genocidal – adj. the deliberate and systematic¹⁰ destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group

intent – n. a usually clearly formulated¹¹ or planned

figure – n. a number symbol

gang – n. a group of persons associated together to do something illegal

donor – n. one that give money or other resources

journey – n. an act or instance of traveling from one place to another

consequence – n. something produced by a cause or necessarily following from a set of conditions

disembark – v. to remove to shore from a ship

1 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

2 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

3 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

6 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

9 foretell   

v.预言，预告，预示

参考例句：

• Willow trees breaking out into buds foretell the coming of spring.柳枝绽青报春来。
• The outcome of the war is hard to foretell.战争胜负难以预卜。

10 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

11 formulated   

v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示

参考例句：

• He claims that the writer never consciously formulated his own theoretical position. 他声称该作家从未有意识地阐明他自己的理论见解。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This idea can be formulated in two different ways. 这个意思可以有两种说法。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》