More than 500 people are feared dead following reports of two large shipwrecks off the coast of Myanmar since late last month, the United Nations said yesterday.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that based on “preliminary information,” the two vessels departed from Myanmar’s Rakhine State in late June. They were carrying mostly Rohingya passengers, “reportedly including some who had travelled from refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.”
One boat, believed to have been carrying around 250 people, “lost contact shortly after departure,” while a second vessel reportedly carrying some 280 people, “is believed to have sunk off Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady coast on 8 July.”
If verified, the tragedies would add to the nearly 300 people reported to be missing or to have lost their lives in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal so far in 2026, they added. This includes both Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals.
“While the incidents and casualty figures have yet to be officially confirmed, UNHCR and IOM are gravely concerned by the potentially devastating loss of life,” the agencies said.
