Rescuers save 69 Rohingya migrants
Indonesian authorities rescued at least 69 Rohingya who had been at sea for weeks and were taking them to shore yesterday after their boat capsized a day earlier.
The group’s wooden boat and another vessel trying to help them both capsized on Wednesday, with survivors estimating around 150 Rohingya had been on board with dozens swept away.
Rescuers had rushed to save the group after they spotted them in the water, stranded and holding onto an overturned boat off the coast of western Aceh province.
“The total rescued (alive) is 69 – 42 men, 18 women and nine children,” the Banda Aceh search and rescue agency said.
Footage from the boat showed men, women and children being taken to safety by the agency.
“I’d been at sea for 15 days, but
there are others who have been here longer. Some have been here for a month,” said a 27-year-old survivor who gave his name as Dostgior in broken Indonesian.
“Why did the boat capsize? There was heavy rain.”
Dostgior said he had travelled from Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh where many Rohingya are housed in squalid camps.
“In Bangladesh, I met someone who could take me to Indonesia. My goal in going to Indonesia is to pay someone to take me to Malaysia,” Dostgior said.
Other refugees said they are from Myanmar and had tried to reach Thailand but were rejected, said West Aceh fishing community secretary-general Pawang Amiruddiny.
The UN Refugee Agency’s protection associate Faisal Rahman said it was waiting for the rescue team to come ashore to get “clear and firm data”.
On Wednesday, six Rohingya from the same vessel were rescued by fishermen.
One survivor said dozens of refugees had been swept away by currents and were missing.
The Rohingya are persecuted in Myanmar, and thousands risk their lives each year on long sea journeys, often on flimsy boats, to try to reach Malaysia or Indonesia. – AFP