More than 500 missing after two refugee boats vanish off Myanmar coast, UN agencies say

More than 500 people fleeing violence in Myanmar are feared dead after two boats disappeared in rough conditions off the country’s coast, according to two UN migration bodies. The vessels reportedly departed from Myanmar’s western Rakhine State in late June and were carrying mostly Rohingya passengers, according to a joint statement from the International Organization for Migration and the UN Refugee Agency Thursday. One boat reportedly carrying 250 people lost contact shortly after departure while another, with about 280 passengers, is believed to have sunk off Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady coast on July 8, according to the statement. The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim ethnic minority group from Myanmar’s Rakhine state, who have faced decades of state-sponsored persecution, violence and what the US has classified as genocide.