According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the number of Rohingya refugees crossing the Indian Ocean from Myanmar and Bangladesh has risen sharply in the past year.
More than 3,500 members of the Muslim minority attempted the dangerous sea crossing in 2022, the UNHCR said on Tuesday.
The year before, there were about 700 people.
At least 348 people died or were missing at sea last year.
The UNHCR reported that the reasons for the flight were increasing desperation among Rohingya and a deterioration in their living conditions.
It is feared that more people will die on the high seas in the future.
The military took power in Myanmar two years ago.
Since then, critics of the regime have been brutally persecuted.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya had previously fled repression and persecution in the predominantly Buddhist country, mainly to Bangladesh.
The government there hopes that they will return to Myanmar.
The United Nations describes the persecution of the Rohingya as genocide.
The Rohingya had lost their citizenship in Myanmar (formerly: Burma) as a result of a law passed in 1983 by the then military junta.