Nearly 60 ‘hungry and weak’ Rohingya men reach Indonesia in battered boat after weeks at sea
A group of 58 Rohingya Muslim men were found on a beach in Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh on Sunday after weeks at sea.
The men were weak and hungry and arrived on Indra Patra beach at the Ladong fishing village in Aceh Besar district early on Sunday, according to officials.
“They look very weak from hunger and dehydration. Some of them are sick after a long and severe voyage at sea,” said local police official Rolly Yuiza Away.
He added 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 people from the group are receiving treatment at a clinic while several others are also being provided medical aid.
On Friday, rights groups, including the UN, urged countries in south Asia to rescue as many as 190 people believed to be Rohingya refugees aboard a small boat that has been adrift for several weeks in the Andaman Sea.
In a statement, the UNHCR [UN High Commissioner for Refugees] said: “Reports indicate those onboard have now remained at sea for a month in dire conditions with insufficient food or water, without any efforts by States in the region to help save human lives.”
However, a statement later by the UNHCR’s Asia Pacific region, said it was presumed that all were dead. “We hope against hope this is not the case,” it said.
In March this year, more than 100 hungry and weak Rohingya Muslims were found on a beach in Aceh after weeks at sea.
Since 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from Buddhist-majority Myanmar to refugee camps in Bangladesh as the Myanmar military launched a clearance operation in response to attacks by a rebel group.
Persecuted Rohingya groups have attempted to leave crowded camps in Bangladesh and travel by sea in hazardous voyages to other Muslim-majority countries in the region.
In a statement on Thursday, Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, urged governments in south and southeast Asia “to immediately and urgently coordinate search and rescue for this boat and ensure safe disembarkation of those aboard before any further loss of life occurs”.
“While many in the world are preparing to enjoy a holiday season and ring in a new year, boats bearing desperate Rohingya men, women and young children are setting off on perilous journeys in unseaworthy vessels,” he said.
According to a UNHCR spokesperson, nearly 200 Rohingya were already feared dead or missing at sea this year, reported Reuters.
Additional reporting by agencies
