KOLKATA, Feb 26 — India’s coast guard found 81 survivors and eight dead on a boat crammed with Muslim Rohingya refugees adrift in the Andaman Sea, and were repairing the vessel so that it can return safely to Bangladesh, Indian officials said today.
The Indian government was in discussions with Bangladesh to agree for the safe return of the vessel, which was found drifting in international waters, having left southern Bangladesh about two weeks ago with hopes of reaching Malaysia.
Many of the survivors, according to Indian officials, were sick and suffering from extreme dehydration, having run out of food and water after the boat’s engine failed four days after leaving Cox’s Bazar, where refugee camps house hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have fled neighbouring Myanmar.
“The engine of the boat broke down earlier this week and we received a SOS from some Rohingyas,” said an Indian coast guard official overseeing the search and rescue effort from New Delhi.
“It’s a humanitarian crisis and we are doing the best we can to save their lives,” he said, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
“The foreign ministry is working towards sending them back to Bangladesh and India will repair or replace the boat’s engine to ensure they can travel back safely,” he said.
The survivors were being provided with food supplies and medicine, and women and children have been given fresh clothes. It was unclear what arrangements were being made for the funeral rites of the people who perished, he added.
Giving news that the boat had been found, India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said yesterday two Indian coast guard ships were dispatched to search for the boat following urgent calls for help.
The United Nations refugee agency had raised the alarm earlier this week over the missing boat, which had left Cox’s Bazar on February 11.
Of the 90 people that had set out on the voyage, eight were found dead, and one was missing, Srivasta said. Talks were underway with Bangladesh for the safe return of the 81 survivors, he added.
“Bangladesh is respectful of its international obligations under the UNCLOS (The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea),” Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
On earlier occasions when other littoral countries of the region repeatedly denied access to Rohingya adrift at sea, it was the Bangladesh that came to the rescue, the ministry added.
More than one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are living in crowded camps in Bangladesh, including tens of thousands who fled after Myanmar’s military conducted a deadly crackdown in 2017.
Human traffickers often lure Rohingya refugees, promising them work in South-east Asian nations.
The Bangladesh statement said the boat had been traced approximately 1,700km away from Bangladesh and 147km from India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
“Other states, particularly those on whose territorial water the vessel has been found, bear the primary responsibility and they should fulfil their obligation under international law and burden-sharing principle,” the ministry said.
India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, which spells out refugee rights and state responsibilities to protect them. Nor does it have a domestic law protecting refugees, though it currently hosts more than 200,000, including some Rohingya.
While India diplomats sought ways to resolve the humanitarian crisis in the Andaman Sea, Indian President Ram Nath Kovind was set to visit islands there during coming days. — Reuters
