JAKARTA, Dec 25 — Dozens of Rohingya refugees landed on the shores of Indonesia’s Aceh province on Sunday following demands from humanitarian organisations to allow them to disembark after being adrift at sea for a month, reported dpa.
State news agency Antara reported that 57 Rohingya men reached the shores of Aceh Besar district. Some of them were reportedly sick. There were no immediate reports of any women or children among them.
Local police chief Rolly Yuiza Away said the men were resting on the shore and that authorities had yet to determine what to do with them, news portal Detik.com reported.
Members of the Rohingya minority have been fleeing persecution in their home state of Rakhine in Myanmar and dire conditions in refugee camps in Bangladesh.
UNHCR on Friday issued a statement calling regional governments to rescue at least 190 Rohingya people adrift between the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal.
According to UNHCR, they were in an unseaworthy vessel with very little food and water and up to 20 people died during the journey.
“It is devastating to learn that many people have already lost their lives, including children. Sadly, this makes it one of the deadliest years in the seas in the region,” Indrika Ratwatte, UNHCR’s Director for Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement.
— Bernama
