Live
Audio Only
At least 21 people, including nine children, died after a packed boat capsized in choppy waters on Tuesday, according to the United Nations.
Most of the passengers were inhabitants of Sin Tet Maw, a camp for internally displaced Rohingya Muslim minority members.
The boat's passengers had received special permission to travel by water to the market in Sittwe from Paukaw -- a journey through the mouth of a wide river that then skirts several kilometres around the coast to the capital.
"This accident serves as a tragic reminder of the vulnerabilities that many communities and families face in this area of Rakhine, where their only option is to use this mode of travel in order to access markets, livelihoods and other basic services that are essential for a dignified life," U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar Janet Jackson said.
The Rohingya have been forced to live in apartheid-like conditions ever since unrest between Buddhists and Muslims left hundreds dead in 2012.
According to humanitarian agencies, over 1.3 million Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar face torture and discrimination, including controls on their movements, family size, and access to jobs. This situation has forced many of them to flee to neighboring countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.
Newsletter
