Two boats carrying an estimated 530 Rohingya asylum seekers have been lost at sea after departing Myanmar’s Rakhine State in late June, with UN agencies fearing more than 500 dead. The vessels left the Arakan Army-controlled village of Sin Tet Maw on 29 June and lost contact shortly after; one is believed to have sunk off the Ayeyarwady coast on 8 July, according to a joint statement from the IOM and UNHCR in Geneva. Bangladesh authorities recovered the body of one woman, and fishermen later found several other bodies, but no official confirmation of the sinkings or casualty figures has been issued. Myanmar’s home affairs ministry declined to comment.

Separately, two elderly Malaysian fathers have appealed for help locating their sons, feared victims of transnational scam networks. Wee Sio Poh, 35, left Malaysia on 5 February, telling his aunt he was travelling to Taiwan and Hong Kong; flight records later showed he flew to Vientiane, Laos, and his family has had no contact since, according to activist Felix Ng of the Malaysian International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO). In a second case, Lai Sam Yap, 38, is believed held in Shwe Kokko, Myanmar, an area linked to online scam operations. His family received ransom demands escalating to RM250,000 and death threats, Ng told a press conference. MHO said it would refer the cases to Malaysia’s foreign ministry and work with contacts in Shwe Kokko.

The Rohingya boat tragedy underscores the perilous sea crossings that have grown deadlier as conditions in Bangladesh’s camps deteriorate. More than 1.2 million stateless Rohingya live there, with steep aid cuts leading to ration reductions. The UNHCR says 2025 was the deadliest year for Rohingya sea journeys, with nearly 900 dead or missing. Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project, which monitors Rohingya movements, said the boats were likely old trawlers packed with passengers, and the monsoon made the journey especially hazardous. With telecommunications cut in much of Rakhine due to conflict, verifying the fate of those on board remains extremely difficult, she said.

Both sets of disappearances illustrate a region where people vanish into opaque networks: Rohingya at sea, often abandoned by coastal authorities, and job seekers lured into scam compounds. The MHO has yet to independently verify the location of Lai Sam Yap, and the families of both missing men lack confirmed information. Investigations are ongoing, and UN agencies have urged stronger regional search-and-rescue and action against smuggling and trafficking networks.