Some 100 Rohingya stranded in boat off India's coast, many dead

This photo taken on December 27, 2021, shows a wooden boat transporting Rohingya refugees after it was intercepted in the waters off Bireuen, Aceh province. They were denied refuge in Indonesia. (File photo: AFP)

MUMBAI: At least 100 Rohingya are stranded in a boat off India's Andaman Islands and as many as 16 to 20 may have died of thirst, hunger or drowned, said two Myanmar Rohingya activist groups.

Each year many Rohingya, members of a Muslim minority, risk their lives boarding rickety vessels to escape violence in Myanmar and squalor in Bangladesh refugee camps. Many attempt to reach Malaysia.