Indonesia: Dozens of Rohingya refugees have reached a beach in Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh after spending weeks at sea.
The Rohingya are a persecuted ethnic minority in their original home of Myanmar.
According to the local police chief Mr. Rolly Yuiza Away, a group of 58 men arrived on Indrapatra beach at Ladong, a fishing village in Aceh Besar district.
“They look very weak from hunger and dehydration. Some of them are sick after a long and severe voyage at sea,” Mr. Away shared while adding that the men received food and water from villagers and others as they waited for further instructions from immigration and local officials in Aceh.
“At least three of the men were rushed to a health clinic for medical care, and others were also receiving various medical treatments,” Mr. Away further added.
Recently, the UN urged countries around the Andaman Sea in Southeast Asia to help a fishing boat carrying about 150 Rohingya refugees, which had been drifting without power for two weeks after leaving Bangladesh.
Later, the UN expressed fear that the fishing boat might have sunk.
Mr. Away observed that it was not immediately clear where the group was travelling from or if they were part of the group of Rohingya refugees who were adrift in the Andaman Sea. But one of the refugee men shared that they had been at sea for more than a month and had aimed to land in Malaysia to seek a better life and work there.