2 yıl önce

Nearly 200 Rohingya refugees arrive in Indonesia in wooden boat

The ship, which carried mostly women and children, is the fifth boat of Rohingya refugees to land in Indonesia since November, according to authorities.

AFP

Around a million Rohingya were estimated to be living in refugee camps in Bangladesh after they fled persecution in neighbouring Myanmar in 2017.

A wooden boat carrying nearly 200 Rohingya refugees, a majority of them women and children, has landed on Indonesia's western coast.

The wooden vessel — which carried 69 men, 75 women and 40 children — arrived at around 0730 GMT (2:30 pm local time) on a beach in Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh, local police chief Irwan Fahmi Ramli said Sunday.

"They are generally healthy, but there is one pregnant woman among them and four people are sick," Ramli said.

"We had coordinated with doctors who will come here to conduct an initial health check of these refugees, particularly those who are sick."

He added that the refugees will be transferred to a local government facility.

According to one of the passengers, the boat departed Bangladesh on December 10.

"We feel very happy because we arrived here. Already, our engine is damaged and also we don't have food in the boat," 26-year-old Fairus told reporters.

Deadliest year for Rohingya crossings

Thousands of the mostly Muslim Rohingya, heavily persecuted in Myanmar, risk their lives each year on long and expensive sea journeys — often in poor-quality boats — in an attempt to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.

Four vessels carrying Rohingya refugees have already landed in Indonesia in November and December last year, carrying a total of more than 400 passengers.

More than 2,000 Rohingya are believed to have attempted the risky journey in 2022, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR — at levels similar to 2020.

The agency estimated nearly 200 Rohingya have died or remain missing after attempting hazardous sea crossings last year.

But the figure could rise after relatives of around 180 Rohingya refugees that were on another vessel drifting at sea for weeks lost contact and were feared dead.

UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch said if true, it would make 2022 the deadliest year for Rohingya crossings since 2013 and 2014, when more than 900 and 700 were reported dead or missing respectively.

Relatively affluent Malaysia is a favoured destination for the refugees, but many land first in another Muslim-majority country, Indonesia.