Rohingya families fear worst as 500 feared dead after two boats capsize off Myanmar coast

Photo – Rohingya refugees sit on a capsized boat off the coast of Mueulaboh, Aceh province, Indonesia, on March 21, 2024. 69 Rohingya, including 24 women whose destination was unknown, were rescued by local authorities from the boat. (Reuters / Hendri) SCMP Lalul Begum does not know if her son is still alive or dead. Her son, 15-year-old Jain Alom, was kidnapped by human traffickers. "The traffickers called us and told us that if we wanted our son back, we had to transfer money to them. Then they let me speak to my son, and he begged me to send the money. In the end, they asked for 150,000 Taka (US$1,216). But later, the traffickers said that since the border was closed, they could not send my son back to the refugee camp," Lalul Begum, the mother of the missing Alom, said. Jain Alom went missing in Myanmar, which is experiencing a civil war. However, trafficking gangs are sending boats carrying migrants from Myanmar's coastlines overseas. The kidnappers of Jain Alom told his mother that her son was on one of those boats. On July 8, two boats capsized off the coast of Myanmar. The United Nations confirmed that more than 500 people were on board those boats. "About 25 days after the Eid al-Adha festival, the traffickers told me they had put my son on a boat. Since then, I have not heard anything from him. Now, the traffickers are threatening me, saying that the news of the boat capsizing is fake, and if I ask for more information about my son, they will kill him. I had the chance to speak to my son on the phone last month, but after the boat sank, I have no idea where he is," Begum said. The family of another 15-year-old boy from the refugee camp is also suffering the same anxiety. Ayyat Ullah was kidnapped from Cox's Bazar. "The traffickers told us that they had put my son on the first boat carrying 280 people who were leaving for Malaysia. Now they are saying that my son has died and there is no more news about him," said Anayat Hossain, the father of the missing Ullah. Both families fled in 2017 due to ethnic violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State. They were among more than 1 million Rohingya refugees who crossed the border seeking safety. However, the conditions in the refugee camps are deteriorating year by year, and they are constantly facing threats from criminal gangs, human traffickers, and harsh weather conditions. (Translated by Ko Lu Aye from the South China Morning Post article "More than 500 are feared dead after two boats operated by smuggling syndicates capsized off the coast of Myanmar this month")