53,000 departed irregularly thru\\\' sea in 1 yr from BD-Myanmar border

In the last 12 months ending in June 2014, UNHCR estimated that some 53,000 people departed irregularly through sea from Bangladesh-Myanmar border in the Bay of Bengal, a 61 per cent rise from the previous 12 months. As in previous years, departures from this area peaked during the traditional sailing season from October to January. Since June 2012, over half of all estimated departures took place between the months of October and January. The recent UNHCR report, titled ‘South-East Asia: Irregular Maritime Movements, January-June-2014’ said irregular maritime departures from Bangladesh-Myanmar border set out most frequently from Teknaf of Bangladesh and from Maungdaw of Myanmar. Away from the border area, an estimated 7,500 additional departures have originated from Sittwe area in Myanmar since June 2012. Several hundred people were also intercepted on boats heading towards Australia. In the first half of 2014, Bangladesh authorities reportedly arrested over 700 people, including smugglers and crew, attempting to depart irregularly by sea from Bangladesh. The report produced by UNHCR’s Bangkok-based Maritime Movements Monitoring Unit, also showed that more than 7,000 asylum-seekers and refugees who have travelled by sea are at present held in detention facilities in the region, including over 5,000 in Australia or its offshore processing centres in Nauru and Papua New Guinea. Individuals departing from the Bangladesh-Myanmar border paid between USD 50-300 to board departure vessels. Small boats ferried groups of 5-30 passengers to larger fishing or cargo vessels with capacities typically ranging from 100-700 passengers. Irregular maritime movements of mixed populations that include persons of concern to UNHCR have been prevalent in the Asia-Pacific region for many years, but movements through South-East Asia, largely originating from the Bay of Bengal, have sharply increased from June 2012. Since then, some 87,000 people are estimated to have departed by sea from Bangladesh-Myanmar border area. This trend has continued through the first half of 2014, during which the main route of irregular maritime movement in South-East Asia remained the journey through the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea from the Bangladesh-Myanmar maritime border to the Malaysia-Thailand maritime border, the UNHCR report said.