4 yıl önce

Rohingya refugees land in Indonesia after 113 days at sea

Of the 90 people who set off on a troubled journey from Bangladesh in hopes of sanctuary in Malaysia, eight were found dead by Indian Coast Guards in February.

Reuters

Rohingya refugees gather at Kuala Simpang Ulim beach after a voyage of more than 100 days, in East Aceh, Aceh Province, Indonesia on June 4, 2021.

A boat carrying dozens of Rohingya refugees that set sail in February but had been adrift in the Andaman Sea with engine failure has landed on an Indonesian island after a voyage of more than 100 days, a human rights official has said.

The vessel sailed on February 11 from Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh carrying 90 Rohingya refugees, most of them women and children, with the hope of reaching Malaysia.

But the boat's engine failed four days after leaving Cox's Bazar, where refugee camps house hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled neighbouring Myanmar.

"We have learnt that the 81 (refugees) were fine, they landed on Idaman Island in Aceh (Indonesia)," said Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, a group that monitors the Rohingya crisis on Friday.

"They are not 100% safe there yet. We hope they will not be pushed back," Lewa told Reuters news agency.

India, Bangladesh deny entry to refugees

Of the 90 people who set out on the voyage, eight were found dead by Indian Coast Guards who had tracked and later repaired the vessel in February.

Indian authorities provided food and essential supplies to survivors but refused to let them set foot on their shores. Bangladesh, too, denied re-entry to 81 survivors.

Over the last three months, international aid agencies and family members of those onboard have made repeated appeals to India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Malaysia for information about the fate of the survivors on the boat.

Authorities in Indonesia were not immediately available for comment on Friday.

Human trafficking of refugees

The Rohingya are a minority group, most of whom are denied citizenship by Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which considers them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

More than 1 million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are living in teeming camps in Bangladesh, including tens of thousands who fled after Myanmar's military conducted a deadly crackdown in 2017.

Human traffickers often lure Rohingya refugees, persuading them to travel on rickety vessels with the promise of work in Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia.

SOURCE: Reuters