More than 500 Rohingya asylum seekers vanish at sea, feared dead

Two boats carrying an estimated 530 Rohingya asylum seekers left Myanmar's Rakhine state on 29 June and have not been heard from since, the BBC reported, describing the disappearance as equivalent to "a jumbo jet full of people" vanishing. [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr59n096mrmo]

It is "very likely" both vessels capsized, the BBC said, citing monsoon conditions, rough seas and the poorly maintained, overcrowded trawlers typically used to smuggle people, with few or no survivors expected. [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr59n096mrmo]

Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project, who monitors Rohingya movements, told the BBC she believes the boats capsized — one hours after departing, the other days into its southward voyage — after Bangladeshi authorities recovered one body and fishermen found several others at sea. [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr59n096mrmo]

The journeys reflect a wider crisis: more than a million Rohingya live in cramped camps in Bangladesh with shrinking aid, while about 600,000 remain in Rakhine, many confined to displaced-persons camps or caught between Myanmar's military and the Arakan Army, according to the BBC's reporting. [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr59n096mrmo]

_Source Reporters corrects factual errors as soon as they are confirmed._