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Indonesia
AsiaSoutheast Asia

57 Rohingya refugees land in Indonesia after boat’s month-long journey

  • This is the third Rohingya refugee boat to arrive in Muslim-majority Indonesia in recent months
  • Refugees will be temporarily housed at a local government facility while authorities coordinate with International Organisation for Migration, UNHCR

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A group of Rohingya refugees board a truck to be transferred to a temporary shelter following their arrival by boat in Krueng Raya, Indonesia’s Aceh province on December 25, 2022. Photo: AFP
Agence France-Presse
A broken-down boat carrying 57 Rohingya refugees landed on Indonesia’s western coast on Sunday after a month at sea, police said.
Thousands of the mostly Muslim Rohingya, heavily persecuted in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, risk their lives each year on long, expensive sea journeys – often in poor-quality vessels – in an attempt to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.

The wooden vessel with 57 men on board arrived around 8am local time (01:00 GMT) on a beach in the westernmost Aceh province, local police spokesman Winardy told AFP.

This picture shows a boat that was carrying Rohingya refugees after their arrival at a beach in Krueng Raya, Indonesia’s Aceh province on December 25, 2022. Photo: AFP
This picture shows a boat that was carrying Rohingya refugees after their arrival at a beach in Krueng Raya, Indonesia’s Aceh province on December 25, 2022. Photo: AFP

“The boat had a broken engine and it was carried by the wind to a shore in Ladong Village in Aceh Besar [district],” Winardy, who goes by one name, said.

“They said they have been drifting at sea for a month.”

Winardy added that police arrived at the beach after being informed by some locals that the boat had docked there.

He said four of the men on board were sick and had been transported to a hospital.

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