Over 70 Rohingya refugees dead or missing after boat capsised off Indonesia coast
Indonesian rescuers save Rohingya refugees
Around 70 Rohingya are presumed dead or missing after a boat they were on capsised off the coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province, while 75 were rescued, the UNHCR refugee agency said on Friday (March 22).
In a joint statement, the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration stated thatif the death toll was confirmed, it would be the biggest loss of life so far this year.
Six of the migrants were saved by fisherman on Wednesday, which prompted the alarm.
Indonesia's rescue team, on receiving the news left Banda Aceh city onWednesday evening to carry out rescue operations butfaced challenges locating the boat in the choppy waters off the coast.
Theteam finally found the boat and the survivors about midday on Thursday.
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The boat was sailing east when it began to leak, and then powerful currents forced itinto the west of Aceh, according to Amiruddin, a tribal fishing community leader in the Aceh Barat area. The six rescued claimed that people were still attempting to survive on the overturned boat.
Babar Baloch, a UNHCR Asia spokesperson, told Reuters on Friday there had been 151 people on the boat, some 75 of whom have been evacuated by local authorities, while the rest were “presumed dead or missing”.
Faisal Rahman, UNHCR’s protection associate in Aceh, said the surviving Rohingya were in a good condition and were staying at a Red Cross building in West Aceh.
Rohingyas have been fleeing the predominantly Buddhist country of Myanmar for many years, as they face mistreatment, denial of citizenship, and common perception as foreign interlopers from South Asia.
According to UNHCR data, more than 2,300 Rohingya entered Indonesia last year, which is more than in all of the preceding four years combined.
The 2023 toll of at least 569 Rohingya dead or missing while trying to flee Myanmar or Bangladesh was the highest since 2014, the UNHCR said in January.
(With inputs from agencies)