Bangladesh, India or Myanmar: Fate of refugees, drifting in Andaman Sea, undecided

Bangladesh officials have said that they are not obliged to take any responsibility for the Rohingya refugees, who were found by India’s coast guard while they had been drifting in the Andaman Sea for two weeks.

The refugees had left Cox Bazar in Bangladesh on a boat that stopped working after four days on the sea. When the Indian coast guard found them, there were 81 survivors and 8 dead together in the dysfunctional boat. Even the survivors were very sick with hunger and dehydration.

Also Read: Aung San Suu Kyi and other top Myanmar leaders detained by the military: Reports

Bangladesh foreign minister A K Abdul Momem said that Bangladesh is not obliged to take any responsibility for the refugees. They were found 147 km away from India, 324 km away from Myanmar and 1,700 km from Bangladesh so the latter expects India or Myanmar to take the refugees.

India has said that it is in a discussion with Bangladesh talking about the possibilities of safe and secure repatriation.

Although India did not sign the 1951 Refugee Convention, which protects the rights of refugees and spells out the state’s responsibilities of its refugees, it hosts more than 200,000 Rohingya refugees. Bangladesh, on the other hand, hosts 1 million refugees from Myanmar.

Also Read: US warns of more action on Myanmar military leaders if violence continues

Most of the refugees had UNHCR issued id-cards generated from their office in Bangladesh but the organisation has not made any comments yet. In most cases, traffickers lure the refugees to leave the refugee camps by promising them jobs in different parts of Asia.