Rohingya refugee boat exodus surges by 90%: Save the Children

DHAKA, April 23, 2026 (AFP): The number of Rohingya refugees fleeing Bangladesh and Myanmar by boat has increased by 90 percent compared with last year, Save the Children said on Thursday, based on United Nations figures.

Many Rohingya who escape persecution in war-torn Myanmar undertake perilous sea journeys every year in search of better living conditions, travelling on overcrowded, rickety boats often operated by trafficking networks.

Khin Maung, a member of the United Council Rohingya (UCR), an elected refugee council in Bangladesh, said the statistics were deeply "upsetting".

He said there were awareness programmes about the risks of the journey, but that people were desperate.

"As our children see no future, no clear prospects of repatriation, and face the absence of formal education, they risk their lives," he told AFP.

More than a million Rohingya refugees, many who fled Myanmar during a brutal military crackdown in 2017, live in vast refugee camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar.

"Children and their families face rising insecurity and inadequate aid," Save the Children official Golam Mostofa said in a statement.

"Many families feel that they have no choice but to risk their lives and leave by boat -- but their journeys are fraught with danger."

Last year was the deadliest on record for Rohingya refugees fleeing by sea, with deaths continuing to soar in 2026, according to UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency.

Nearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal in 2025.

More than 250 Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi migrants were reported missing this month after their boat capsized in the Andaman Sea, a route many travel when heading towards Indonesia.

Data from the UNHCR shows that 2,907 people left by sea from Myanmar and Bangladesh up to March 31 this year, compared to 1,517 people over the same period in 2025.

The cash-strapped UN World Food Programme cut aid for large portions of the 1.2 million-strong Rohingya group in Bangladesh this month.

Save the Children said the ration cuts had affected at least 500,000 Rohingya refugee children.

That was "putting further strain on families, with reduced food security inside the camps driving more refugees to attempt dangerous sea journeys", the agency said.