Hundreds of refugees feared dead after two suspected shipwrecks off Myanmar: UN

More than five hundred people are feared dead after two boats carrying refugees are believed to have capsized off the coast of Myanmar, The Guardian reports. The vessels are thought to have departed in late June, most of those aboard members of the largely Muslim Rohingya minority. In a joint statement, the UN's International Organization for Migration and its refugee agency, UNHCR, voiced alarm over the reports of the two suspected shipwrecks. The Rohingya have for years fled Myanmar by sea in search of safety, often on overcrowded and unseaworthy boats.

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