VOA新闻杂志2022 For Rohingya, 2022 Could Be Deadliest at Sea in Years

For Rohingya, 2022 Could Be Deadliest at Sea in Years

The United Nations says the possible sinking of a boat carrying Rohingya Muslims would make 2022 one of the deadliest at sea for that group.

The United Nations High Commissioner¹ for Refugees (UNHCR) said it believes a boat that set sail at the end of November is missing. All 180 on board are feared dead.

The agency said it feared the boat may have started to break apart in early December before losing contact. The UNHCR said it was not clear where the boat had launched from. But three Rohingya men, including one whose family was onboard, said it set sail from Bangladesh.

Nearly 1 million Rohingya from Myanmar are living in crowded camps in Muslim-majority Bangladesh. The number includes tens of thousands who fled their home country after Myanmar's military carried out a deadly operation against the minority group in 2017.

Rights groups have estimated the number of Rohingya leaving Bangladesh by boat rose to nearly 2,400 this year. It was not clear how the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions² in Southeast Asia has affected³ the flow from Bangladesh.

In Buddhist-majority Myanmar, most Rohingya are denied citizenship⁴ and are seen as illegal immigrants from South Asia.

Babar Baloch is a UNHCR spokesperson. He told Reuters news agency that nearly 200 Rohingya were already feared dead or missing at sea this year. "We hope against hope that the 180 missing are still alive somewhere."

Officials in Thailand said four women and one man were recently found floating near Thailand's Surin Island and rescued by fishermen. Another woman was rescued near the country's Similan Islands. Officials were not able to confirm their identities.

A local fisherman told Reuters he and his crew had rescued people holding onto a floating water tank.

Baloch said 2022 was one of the worst years for Rohingya deaths and disappearances⁵ after 2013 and 2014. The earlier years are when 900 and 700 Rohingya died or went missing in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, off the southern coasts of Myanmar and Bangladesh. U.N. officials said violence between communities within the group forced them to flee.

Sayedur Rahman is a 38-year-old man who fled to Malaysia in 2012 from Myanmar. He told Reuters his wife and three children were among the missing on the vessel⁶.

"In 2017, my family came to Bangladesh to save their lives," Rahman said. "But they are now all gone...I'm totally devastated⁸...We Rohingya are left to die...on the land, at sea. Everywhere."

Bangladesh has in the past arrested people involved in human trafficking. The densely⁹ populated country has also asked other nations to take some refugees.

Chris Lewa is director of the Arakan Project, which seeks to support Rohingya people in Myanmar and Bangladesh. Lewa told Reuters a boat carrying nearly 200 people that drifted for weeks after leaving Bangladesh had landed in Indonesia's Aceh province earlier this week.

Earlier this month, Lewa said many people from the same boat may have died of hunger or thirst. Lewa said it was "outrageous¹⁰" that the boat was drifting for so long, and "completely ignored without food or water..."

Words in This Story

on board –adj. on a boat or airplane (sometimes used with other vehicles)

devastate⁷ – v. to destroy of damage something very badly

drift – v. to be moved slowly somewhere by currents of wind or water

outrageous – adj. shocking or extreme

1 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

2 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

5 disappearances   

n.消失( disappearance的名词复数 )；丢失；失踪；失踪案

参考例句：

• Most disappearances are the result of the terrorist activity. 大多数的失踪案都是恐怖分子造成的。 来自辞典例句
• The espionage, the betrayals, the arrests, the tortures, the executions, the disappearances will never cease. 间谍活动、叛党卖国、逮捕拷打、处决灭迹，这种事情永远不会完。 来自英汉文学

6 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

7 devastate   

v.使荒芜，破坏，压倒

参考例句：

• A few days before,a fire had devastated large parts of Windsor Castle.几天前，温莎城堡的大部分被一场大火烧毁。
• Earthquakes can also cause tsunamis,which devastate coastal regions.地震还引发海啸，它直接破坏海岸地区。

8 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

9 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

10 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。