Nearly 900 Rohingya refugees dead or missing in Andaman sea in 2025 in deadliest year on record

NeaNearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea off Myanmar in 2025, making it the deadliest year on record, the United Nations Refugee Agency said on Friday.

More than one in seven of the estimated 6,500 people from the Rohingya ethnic minority who attempted to cross the sea last year either died or remain unaccounted for. This has made the route the world’s deadliest for sea journeys, UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva.

The dangerous crossings have continued into 2026, with more than 2,800 Rohingya embarking on such journeys up to 13 April this year, Baloch added.

"This sad and tragic trend continues, this sense of desperation among the Rohingya population," he said.

Ongoing displacement and persecution

Nearly a quarter of a million Rohingya were forced from their homes into camps in Bangladesh when Myanmar’s armed forces launched an offensive in 2017.

Many from the predominantly Muslim ethnic group reported killings, mass rape and arson during the military campaign.

A UN fact-finding mission concluded the 2017 military offensive had included “genocidal acts”. Buddhist-majority Myanmar has denied genocide.

Increasingly risky journeys 

While the vast majority of Rohingya refugees flee by land, the UNHCR says an increasing number are making perilous journeys by sea, driven by violence at home and overcrowded conditions in refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Many hope to reach safety and better opportunities in countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

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Of around 25,300 people who embarked on boat journeys from Myanmar between February 2022 and March 2026, more than 2,300 died or went missing en route, according to UNHCR figures.

Despite living in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state for generations, the Rohingya were excluded from full citizenship under a 1982 law that denied certain ethnic groups citizenship, effectively rendering them stateless.

As a result, the Rohingya, who are predominantly Muslim, have faced decades of restrictions on movement, as well as limited access to education and employment in the Buddhist-majority country, which is currently under military rule.

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