UNHCR: Time Running Out for Thousands of People at Sea

The UN refugee agency on Tuesday warned that time was running out for thousands of people in distress at sea and urged governments in the South-east Asia region to urgently rescue and disembark these vulnerable people.

UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told journalists in Geneva on Tuesday, said:

We estimate that nearly 4,000 people from Myanmar and Bangladesh remain stranded at sea with dwindling supplies on board. This includes some 2,000 men, women and children stranded on at least five boats near the Myanmar-Bangladesh coasts for more than 40 days. Unconfirmed reports suggest the number could be higher.

Since the weekend there have been no new reports of landings elsewhere in the region. In the last nine days, a total of 1,396 people have landed in Indonesia, 1,107 in Malaysia and 106 in southern Thailand.

The original UNHCR article can be found here.

Source: UNHCR, Image: UNHCR/A.D’Amato