Rohingya adrift on Andaman Sea, not at the Bay of Bengal

Mentioning that the news article of BBC under the headline 'Rohingya Crisis: UN urges rescue of refugees adrift at sea' was wrongly represented, the Bangladesh government has said, the boat was at Andaman sea, but not at the Bay of Bengal.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) of Bangladesh on Thursday referred the UNHCR statement and the subsequent news release of the UN, what clearly mentioned that the boat was located on the Andaman sea. 

The UN news release clearly specified the location of Andaman Sea which lies to the southeast of Bay of Bengal, south of Myanmar, west of Thailand and east of India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, said the release. 

But referring to the United Nations, the BBC report wrongly claimed that these people were adrift at the sea off the coast of Bangladesh.

“Bangladesh is respectful of its international obligations under the UNCLOS. It is worth mentioning that in earlier occasions when other littoral countries of the region repeatedly denied access to the Rohingyas adrift on the sea, it was the Government of Bangladesh who came to the rescue of the people, who were found on our territorial water. Other states, particularly those, on whose territorial water the vessel has been found bears the primary responsibility and they should fulfill their obligation under international law and burden-sharing principle,” the release added. 

Mentionable, the boat has been traced approximately 1700km away from Bangladesh at a location which is about 492km from Myanmar, 363km from Thailand, 281km from Indonesia and 147km from India, reads the release. 

The location is far off the territorial water of Bangladesh and proximate to other littoral states.