Starving, thirsty, stateless Rohingya are stranded and trapped in the Andaman Sea

Within three days around 1,158 Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees have landed at Langkawi Island, Malaysia, and as many as 6,000 asylum seekers are feared to be trapped at sea in crowded wooden boats. They have been drifting for days and months in the waters between Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. The vast majority of them are suffering from diarrhoea, abdominal pains, dehydration and urination problems.

Since 2012, due to the inter-communal conflict in Rakhine State, Burma (Myanmar), hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have been forced to leave their houses and are confined in IDP camps. They have limited access to education or adequate healthcare and cannot move freely. They have been attacked by mobs and chased from their homes and are regarded as illegal settlers in their own country and are trying to escape from poverty and persecution. Those Rohingya Refugees who have been successful in entering Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia are in detention centres and those who are in refugees camps are facing food and safe water shortages.