A broken-down boat carrying 57 Rohingya refugees landed on Indonesia’s western coast on Sunday after a month at sea, police mentioned.
Thousands of the largely Muslim Rohingya, closely persecuted in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, danger their lives every year on lengthy, costly sea journeys – typically in poor-quality vessels – in an try to achieve Malaysia or Indonesia.
The wood vessel with 57 males on board arrived round 8 a.m. native time (1 a.m. GMT) on a seaside within the westernmost Aceh province, native police spokesman Winardy instructed AFP.
“The boat had a broken engine and it was carried by the wind to a shore in Ladong Village in Aceh Besar (district),” Winardy, who goes by one title, mentioned.
“They said they have been drifting at sea for a month.”
Winardy added that police arrived on the seaside after being knowledgeable by some locals that the boat had docked there.
He mentioned 4 of the boys on board have been sick and had been transported to a hospital.
Telmaizul Syatri, the top of the native immigration workplace, mentioned the refugees shall be briefly housed at an area authorities facility.
“We will coordinate with the International Organisation for Migration and the UNHCR so that it can be handled well,” Syatri mentioned.
This is the third Rohingya refugee boat to reach in Muslim-majority Indonesia in current months.
Two boats carrying a complete of 229 Rohingya landed in Aceh on Nov. 15 and 16, in response to the United Nations refugee company (UNHCR).
Sunday’s arrival comes after the UNHCR and Southeast Asian politicians known as for the rescue of one other vessel carrying as many as 200 Rohingya refugees, together with ladies and kids, which has been stranded at sea for a number of weeks.
That boat has been reported in waters near Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and India within the Andaman Sea and the Malacca Strait, one of many world’s busiest transport routes.
The UNHCR mentioned final week that it has been within the water since late November, and it had obtained reviews of not less than a dozen folks dying on board. Those left on the boat don’t have any entry to meals or water.
