Most of the 21 people confirmed drowned when a boat carrying Muslim IDPs sank off Rakhine State last month were ethnic Kamar and not Rohingya as widely reported, according to relatives and survivors who say they are forgotten victims of religious persecution in Myanmar.
The loss of life in rough seas on April 19 after the sinking of a boat carrying 40 to 60 people from Sin Tet Maw in Pauktaw township soon hit social media and then international headlines. A US embassy statement expressed deep concern, using the controversial name Rohingya to describe the victims.
That wording prompted protests outside the US embassy in Yangon on April 28 from nationalists who vehemently object to the term and insist that they be called by their official label of “Bengalis”. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
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