Rohingya refugees arrive on the shores of Indonesia after their boat was lost in the Indian Ocean for weeks
About 200 Rohingya refugees, including women and children, have arrived on the shores of Indonesia, after their boat was lost for weeks in the Indian Ocean. The United Nations had reported that a boat with about 180 people on board might have sank while trying to flee the difficult conditions of life in the Bangladeshi camps. Thousands of Rohingya Muslims, persecuted in Buddhist-majority Burma, risk long and expensive sea journeys on rickety boats to try to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.
After being lost for weeks in the Indian Ocean, a boat carrying some 200 Rohingya refugees has reached the shores of Indonesia, the fourth such boat to dock in the country in as many months.
Thousands of Rohingya Muslims, persecuted in Buddhist-majority Burma , risk long and expensive sea journeys on rickety boats to try to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.
Local police spokesman Winardi said the wooden boat arrived at around 5:30 pm local time at a beach in Indonesia's far western province of Aceh.
"A total of 185 Rohingya migrants disembarked in Bedi district. The number includes 83 men, 70 women and 32 children," he said in a statement.
According to Winardi, the refugees have been temporarily housed in a local facility, where the sick are under medical care.
And the correspondent of the French News Agency stated that some of them looked very weak, which prompted the medical staff to provide them with the necessary medicines.
No details were immediately available about the circumstances of their journey, but a boy on board said they had set out from Bangladesh.
"We came from a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh, hoping that Indonesia would give us an opportunity for education," said Omar Farooq, 14 .
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees announced the loss of about 180 Rohingya refugees, after their boat ran aground weeks ago in the Indian Ocean and lost contact with them, as they were considered "presumed dead."
An Acehnese resident said that fishermen in the area used to help Rohingya boats dock, but the last boat was blown ashore by winds after the fishermen became more reluctant to help.
On Sunday, a wooden boat carrying 57 Rohingya refugees, all men, also arrived on Indonesia's west coast after spending a month at sea, according to local police.
In November, two boats carrying a total of 229 Rohingya docked in the same area, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Malaysia is also a favorite destination for the Rohingya, who are also trying to reach Muslim-majority regions that are more welcoming to them.
The UN's International Organization for Migration called on countries in the region to "cooperate urgently to avoid a repeat of the 2015 crisis" when thousands of Rohingya refugees fled by boat, resulting in massive loss of life off Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
Source: websites