The recent tragedy of hundreds of boat people floating in the wilderness of the sea without food and other basic amenities has drawn the world's attention to the protracted suffering of the Rohingyas.

AS many as 8,000 refugees have been adrift in the Andaman Sea lately, some of them stranded for more than two months.

Bangladesh plans to relocate thousands of Rohingya who have spent years in refugee camps near the Myanmar border to a southern island, an official says.