缅甸难民寻求危险的海上安全路线

Deadly maritime journeys have become a recurring feature of a long-running humanitarian crisis, as refugees from Myanmar continue to risk their lives on overcrowded, unseaworthy boats in search of safety and opportunity.

For years, members of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority have risked their lives on flimsy wooden boats, driven by violence at home and desperate conditions in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh, hoping to reach safety and opportunity in countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia or Thailand.

Most Myanmar refugees escape overland from western Myanmar into Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, while others travel onward through India toward major cities. A second stream follows sea routes, with boats crossing the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea from Myanmar and Bangladesh toward Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. A smaller number move through regional air routes.

Most refugees flee by land. Of roughly 367,000 people from Myanmar who attempted to migrate in search of safety and protection in the four years to January 2026, only about 7% travelled by sea or river, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.

Despite the risks, the agency says, increasing numbers of Rohingya were making similar risky journeys via sea.

Yet, many continue to die or go missing enroute. Of about 25,300 people who embarked on boat journeys between February 2022 and March 2026, more than 2,300 died or went missing enroute.

Of all the refugees who embarked on a maritime journey in this period, more than 60% travelled within Myanmar. Indonesia was the second most sought after destination, followed by Bangladesh.

In 2017, Myanmar’s armed forces launched an offensive that ​forced at least 730,000 Rohingya from their ​homes and ⁠into neighbouring Bangladesh, where they recounted killings, mass rape and arson. A U.N. fact-finding mission concluded the 2017 military ⁠offensive ​had included “genocidal acts”. Buddhist-majority Myanmar has denied ​genocide, and says the U.N. fact-finding mission was not objective or reliable.