A/HRC/56/60 sea, including witnessing the drowning and disappearance of family members, other children and young persons. 12. The Special Rapporteur highlights the critical situation of Rohingya refugees, many of whom are at risk of trafficking at sea, including child refugees. In its quarterly update, dated December 2023, on Rohingya refugees fleeing over land and sea, the UNHCR Regional Bureau for Asia and Pacific reported a total of 6,500 persons attempted land and sea movements in 2023, including nearly 4,500 Rohingya refugees embarking on perilous sea journeys and 569 persons reported deceased or missing. The year 2023 was reported by UNHCR as the deadliest year on record for maritime movements in the region since the 2015 Andaman Sea crisis.18 It is reported that, of the 6,500 individuals travelling by land and sea, nearly all the 569 persons reported as dead or missing were from maritime movements. Compared with 2022, the number of persons embarking on sea journeys increased by 21 per cent, while the number of dead or missing rose by 63 per cent. It was expected that the pattern of increased “perilous maritime movements” would continue in 2024, in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. 13. It is estimated that one Rohingya has died or gone missing for every eight persons attempting the journey in 2023, making the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal one of the deadliest stretches of water in the world.19 An estimated 66 per cent of those embarking on those journeys are women and children, the majority departing from Bangladesh and, to a lesser extent, Myanmar. 14. The Special Rapporteur highlights that at least seven known tragic accidents at sea occurred, resulting in 250 confirmed deaths and 319 persons missing between January and December 2023. It is a serious concern that widespread physical abuse, including gender-based violence, was reported by the survivors of those incidents. 20 The lack of accountability and limited investigations into credible evidence of trafficking in persons, in addition to the limited assistance and protection to victims and persons at risk of trafficking among Rohingya refugees crossing the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal is a very serious concern, requiring urgent attention from United Nations entities, regional bodies and States. 15. The Special Rapporteur highlights the political commitments made by all member States of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime in the eponymous declaration in 2016. However, the continuing absence of a regional mechanism for predictable search and rescue and safe disembarkation has led to varied and ad hoc responses and continuing violations of States’ obligations to prevent trafficking in persons and to assist and protect victims of trafficking. 16. During her visit to Colombia in 2023, the Special Rapporteur visited several border areas, including the Gulf of Urabá (Apartadó and Necoclí),21 and observed the precarious conditions, lack of safe accommodation and serious risks of trafficking, in particular for women, families and children desperate to pay the exorbitant fees charged for onward travel to Mexico, Panama and the United States of America. The fees charged vary depending on the routes taken through the Darién Gap. Those with limited resources – often Haitians and Venezuelans – are forced to take longer and more dangerous paths, while those with more resources can take safer routes. 17. The serious risks of trafficking in persons and other human rights violations resulted in the issuing, on 11 April 2023, of binational early warnings by the Office of the Ombudsman (Colombia) for the Antioquia and Chocó departments. 22 Concerns persist, however, at the limited follow-up to the early warnings and the continued lack of resources and protection pathways, in practice, for victims and persons at risk of trafficking. Specific risks of trafficking in persons arise at the main ports of the Gulf of Urabá, such as Necoclí 18 19 20 21 22 GE.24-06692 See https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/106455. See UNHCHR, “UNHCR: Urgent action needed to address dramatic rise in Rohingya deaths at sea”, 23 January 2024. See https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/106455. In 2023, Migration Colombia reported that, of the 539,959 migrants in an irregular situation arriving in Colombia, 343,112 left the country through Necoclí. See https://alertasstg.blob.core.windows.net/alertas/014-23.pdf. 5