At least 12 Rohingya drowned late Sunday when their packed boat capsized as they fled violence in Myanmar to seek refuge in Bangladesh.
Officials said the bodies of 10 children, one woman, and one man have been recovered. They estimate that anywhere from 40 to 100 people were on the boat, which sank in the Naf river that separates Myanmar from Bangladesh.
Amnesty International spoke out against the tragedy, saying it was "yet more evidence of the desperate situation still prevailing in Rakhine state".
More than half a million people Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar's Rakhine state for Bangladesh since late August.
Analysts and rights workers say since Rohingya militants attacked Myanmar security forces in August, the military has carried out a brutal crackdown, burning villages and killing women and children as they fled.
The United Nations says the military crackdown could amount to "ethnic cleansing."
Myanmar’s civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi has condemned the human rights violations taking place in Rakhine state, but she has come under strong international criticism for not speaking out more forcefully on the situation.
