Conflict · Myanmar Coast · ArchiveOver 500 Rohingya Feared Dead After Two Boats Vanish Off Myanmar CoastAired July 21, 2026 at 7:00 AM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00More than 500 Rohhinga refugees are0:02feared dead tonight after two boats0:04vanished off Myanmar's coast and no0:06search teams are looking for them. One0:08vessel carrying roughly 250 people lost0:11contact after departing Rakine state in0:13late June. A second boat with about 2800:16on board is believed to have gone down0:18off theati coast on July 8th. The0:20Myanmar government has not issued a0:22single official statement. The UN's0:24refugee and migration agencies released0:27a joint statement expressing grave0:28concern over this potentially0:30devastating loss of life, but no active0:32search and rescue operations have been0:34deployed for either vessel. Both boats0:36were following the same desperate route0:38from Rakine State in western Myanmar0:41across the Bay of Bengal toward0:42Bangladesh and Malaysia. The first0:45vanished sometime in late June. The0:47second carrying even more people sank0:49apparently without warning on July 8th.0:51In both cases, no one came looking. One0:54family story captures the human toll.0:56Loo and Nure paid a 1,600-lb ransom to0:59smugglers for the return of their1:0015-year-old son, Johnny Alam, who had1:02been kidnapped. Instead of bringing him1:04home, the smugglers placed the boy on1:06one of the vanished boats. He is now1:08among the missing. This is not the first1:10tragedy on this route. In April, a boat1:12capsized, killing 280 people. Only nine1:16survivors were rescued. One survivor1:18named Rafi watched 20 people drown1:19around him. A smuggler in Cox's bazaar1:22later admitted to sending those 201:23people, all of whom died, adding the1:25April disaster and the two recent1:27disappearances together. More than 8001:29Rohhinga have died or are feared dead on1:31this crossing in 2026 alone, making this1:34the deadliest year on record for this1:36route. Behind these numbers are over 1.21:38million Rohingya living in Cox's bizaar1:40camps in Bangladesh. They are banned1:42from working. They are banned from1:44attending school. Food rations have been1:46slashed to just $7 per person per month.1:49For many, the choices between starving1:51in the camp or dying at sea. Meanwhile,1:54conditions inside Myanmar continue to1:56deteriorate. The Arakhan army, an ethnic1:59armed group, now controls nearly 90% of2:01Rakine state. There are widespread2:03allegations of forced labor and targeted2:05killings against the Rohhinga2:07population, the very people now trying2:08to flee by sea. Nearly 900 Rohinda died2:11attempting this crossing in 2025. Out of2:14roughly 6,500 who tried to make the2:16journey, with no search operations2:18underway and no government2:19accountability, the families of the2:21missing are left with nothing but2:22silence.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗