Officials said Thursday that more than 500 people are feared dead. Two boats with Rohingya refugees sank in the Bay of Bengal.

The International Organization for Migration and the UN refugee agency said the boats left Myanmar’s Rakhine state in late June. One boat had about 250 people. It lost contact soon after it left. A second boat had about 280 people. It is believed to have sunk off Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady coast on July 8.

The agencies said the incidents and casualty numbers are not officially confirmed. They said recent monsoon rains and flooding made the trip very dangerous. About 1.2 million stateless Rohingya stay in overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh. They fled violence by Myanmar’s security forces. The United States called that a genocide in 2017.

Big cuts to foreign aid have led to ration cuts in the camps. The unrest makes more Rohingya try the dangerous ocean trip to Malaysia. The UNHCR said more than 6,500 Rohingya fled in 2025. Nearly 900 were reported dead or missing. The agencies asked for stronger international help. They want to stop more deaths on one of the world’s deadliest sea routes.