About 70 of the people on board are children, while 88 are women, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said, specifying that they are Rohingya.
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The UN called on Saturday, December 23, for the rescue of 185 people on board a boat in distress in the Indian Ocean. About 70 of those on board are children, while 88 are women, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement, adding that the boat was near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean.
“At least a dozen of them are said to be in critical condition and one individual is believed to have died,” added the UNHCR. “Many more could die… if they are not rescued in time.” A spokesperson for the UN agency, Babar Baloch, told AFP that it was contacting and urging all authorities in coastal countries in the region to rescue the migrants, believed to be Rohingya.“It really is a desperate situation,” he said.
Thousands of Rohingya, mostly Muslims, persecuted in Burma, undertake risky sea journeys each year from Burma and refugee camps in Bangladesh to try to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.
