Every year thousands of Rohingyas attempt the perilous sea journey to Malaysia or Indonesia. The long journey across the Andaman Sea in overcrowded fishing boats is always dangerous, but especially at this time of the year, at the peak of the monsoon storm season. Most Rohingyas attempt to cross between the months of October and May. They are willing to take the risk - and often sell their only assets, such as land, to fund the trip - because of the unrelentingly grim conditions in which they are forced to live, either as refugees in appallingly crowded camps over the border in Bangladesh, or subjected to discrimination and restrictions on their movement in Myanmar.
Jonathan Head, ‘Rohingya: At least 23 dead, 30 missing after boat sinks’, BBC
