Two boats carrying an estimated 530 Rohingya asylum seekers left Myanmar's Rakhine State on Monday, June 29, 2026, and have not been heard from since. The vessels, typically old fishing trawlers converted to carry large numbers of people, faced rough seas due to the onset of the monsoon season and were reportedly barely seaworthy with unreliable engines.

Rakhine State has been embroiled in conflict for several years, with the insurgent Arakan Army controlling much of the region and besieging the state capital, Sittwe, which is now accessible only by air and sea. The boats departed from Sin Tet Maw, a village under Arakan Army control.

Chris Lewa, who leads the Arakan Project advocating for Rohingya rights, has been attempting to determine the fate of the two boats. Although she no longer has direct contacts in Sittwe or Sin Tet Maw, she has gathered information from other sources confirming that both boats left on June 29—one in the morning and the other later that day. Lewa believes the boats likely capsized, one several hours after departure and the other after several days of sailing southeast.

An estimated 600,000 Rohingyas remain in Rakhine State, with about a quarter confined to internally displaced people (IDP) camps under harsh conditions, while the rest live in precarious communities caught between warring factions. Since September 2025, Lewa estimates that at least 10,000 Rohingyas have fled Myanmar and Bangladesh by boat.

In 2015, the Thai government began blocking road routes used by smugglers and closing transit camps where traffickers held captives, aiming to curb human trafficking in the region.

The disappearance of these two boats highlights the ongoing dangers faced by Rohingya refugees attempting to escape conflict and persecution by sea.

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