Geneva - (AFP) - The United Nations deplored Tuesday an "alarming" increase in the number of Rohingya refugees who died at sea or went missing while trying to flee from Burma or Bangladesh last year, expressing fears that this trend could accelerate in the absence of a comprehensive regional response.

In its report on the year 2022, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees indicated that more than 3,500 desperate Rohingya attempted to cross the sea, compared to 700 the previous year.

UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Manto told a press conference in Geneva that the commission "has detected an alarming increase in the death toll. At least 348 individuals died or went missing in 2022," noting that the death toll is the largest since 2014.

Manto said that of the 3,040 Rohingya children who tried to escape by sea last year, most of them ended up in Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh, explaining that about 45 percent of them were women children.

"Most of the boats set sail from Burma and Bangladesh, which highlights the growing sense of desperation among the Rohingya in these two countries," Mantoo said.

"Those who made landfall in other areas reported that they undertook these dangerous sea voyages in an attempt to find protection and security, reunite with their families and find livelihoods in other countries," she added.

"They include victims of trafficking, unaccompanied and separated children, and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence," she noted.

A violent military crackdown targeting them in 2017 in Burma prompted hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighboring Bangladesh, and they recounted horrific accounts of the killing, rape and burning they were subjected to.

A spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner indicated that "the UNHCR's calls to the maritime authorities in the region to rescue and disembark the afflicted people have gone unheeded, with many boats stuck at sea for weeks."

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has described the current crisis in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea as a "crisis of solidarity".

It called for a full regional response to human trafficking, search and rescue efforts and support to the countries where they are disembarked.

"The region and the international community need to support efforts to address the root causes of displacement in Burma," Mantoux said.

And she warned that without such a response, "refugees will continue to undertake perilous journeys in search of safety".