Rohingya Muslims crisis: Youth leaving Myanmar to escape persecution and despair

SITTWE AFP: A generation of young Rohingya Muslims are disappearing on boats to escape persecution and despair in Myanmar, leaving frantic parents behind clutching on to little more than photographs and fading hope that their children are safe. Fragments of news of the boat people crisis gripping Southeast Asia has filtered into Ohn Daw Gyi displacement camp on the fringes of the Rakhine state capital Sittwe in western Myanmar, stirring panic among families from the stateless Rohingya minority. Tun Hla Shwe's 19-year-old daughter and her two small children have been missing on the seas for more than two months. "We heard about the stranded boats. Some people said the crew throw people into the sea if they die. They do it if children die. When I heard about it, I thought that my two grandchildren may die," he told AFP of the infants, aged two and four. "They cannot even stand it if they don't have a snack every five minutes. It has been more than two months. If they don't eat anything they will die," he said, breaking into sobs. Tens of thousands have taken to the sea in recent years from Myanmar and Bangladesh, risking everything with people smugglers for the chance of a better future in Malaysia and beyond. It is the largest regional exodus since Vietnamese fled in droves following the end of the Vietnam war. [caption id="attachment_76446" align="alignnone" width="464"] Rohingya youths from Myanmar wash themselves at the newly set up confinement area for migrants Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/47383547.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst[/caption]