Mizzima/AFP
Rohingya refugees are escaping the Bangladesh camps risking their lives on boats taking them to what they hope will be a better life.
Bangladesh is home to around one million Rohingya refugees, most of whom fled a violent 2017 crackdown by the Myanmar military that is now subject to a United Nations genocide probe. Conditions for Rohingya refugees in the overcrowded, dangerous and under-resourced relief camps in Bangladesh are tough.
Mohammad Ullah, 26, a registered Rohingya refugee in the Nayapara camp in Cox's Bazar, said his former mother-in-law - who had been looking after his four-year-old daughter after his wife died - had taken the child with her on a boat to Indonesia on Tuesday night.
"She took my daughter saying that she was taking her to the beach - and then did not return her," the distraught Mohammad Ullah said. "When I went to ask where she was, I found out she took my daughter with her family to take on a boat towards Indonesia."
He said Rohingya people saw Indonesia as a safe place, because they "easily resettle the refugees".
The mostly Muslim Rohingya are still persecuted in Myanmar, and thousands risk their lives each year on long and expensive sea journeys, often in flimsy boats, to try to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.
Hundreds are taking to the boats. One boat was carrying around 200 people, and the second had up to 150 people. Rohingya refugees said Friday a third boat with around 200 people had set sail on Thursday night.
Another Rohingya man in Bangladesh, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the route was run by organised smugglers skilled in being able to dodge naval patrols.
"Brokers take the Rohingya refugees in small boats going between the maritime boundaries of Bangladesh and Myanmar," he said. "Then they take the refugees to larger vessels far out to the sea".
This month has seen a spike in journeys to Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh - a journey of about 1,800 kilometres (1,120 miles) - with more than 1,000 arrivals in the biggest such wave since the 2017 crackdown in Myanmar. They do not always receive a warm welcome. One boat carrying about 250 refugees was turned away by villagers on one Aceh shore.
In Myanmar, those Rohingya who remain are facing new challenges to their movement.
The UN said last week that renewed fighting between Myanmar's military and an armed group belonging to an ethnic minority in Rakhine state - where many Rohingya are from - has displaced thousands and restricted movement.
More than 2,000 Rohingya are believed to have attempted the risky journey to other Southeast Asian countries in 2022, according to the UN refugee agency.
Nearly 200 Rohingya died or went missing last year while attempting hazardous sea crossings, the agency has estimated.
Mizzima/AFP
