Boat Capsize: Dozens of Rohingyas rescued off Indonesia

Indonesian fishermen yesterday rescued dozens of Rohingya people after high tides capsized their boat in waters off the province of Aceh, a regional fishing chief said.

The United Nations' refugee agency (UNHCR) estimates about 2,000 Rohingyas have reached Indonesia since last October, among droves of the persecuted religious minority in Myanmar who fled to the Southeast Asia nation over the past year, mostly to Aceh.

More than 50 Rohingyas were standing on a hull near the city of Meulaboh in West Aceh after the boat capsized in high tides, said Miftach Tjut Adek, chief of the fishing community in the province.

"We, as fishermen, are obligated to help them," he told Reuters, adding that the rescuers had braved inclement weather to take them off the sinking structure.