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 events and the number of dead have not been officially confirmed.

They said recent monsoon rains and flooding made the trip very dangerous.

About 1.2 million stateless Rohingya live in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.

They ran away from violence by Myanmar’s security forces.

The United States called this a genocide in 2017.

Big cuts to foreign aid have led to less food in the camps.

The unrest has pushed more Rohingya to try the dangerous ocean trip to Malaysia.

The UNHCR said more than 6,500 Rohingya fled and nearly 900 were reported dead or missing in 2025.

The agencies asked for stronger international help.

They want to stop more deaths on one of the world’s most dangerous sea routes.