114 Rohingyas reach Aceh by sea
A boat carrying more than one hundred Rohingya refugees, including dozens of children, landed on the coast of Indonesia's westernmost province Aceh early yesterday, police said.
The vessel, which sailed from a Rohingya camp in Bangladesh, arrived shortly after 3:00 am on a beach in Bireun district.
It was carrying 114 people, including 58 men, 21 women and 35 children aged under 15 years old, police said.
"We will conduct a general health check up and Covid-19 rapid antigen tests for these foreigners," local police chief Mike Hardy Wirapraja told AFP.
He said they would later be transferred to neighbouring Lhokseumawe district which has a shelter for refugees.
Police found out about the arrival after some local fishermen reported that a boat filled with Rohingya people had landed on the beach.
The boat appeared to be in good condition and the refugees had sufficient food and supplies during the journey.
It is the second arrival by the persecuted minority in Muslim-majority Indonesia in the recent months.
More than 100 Rohingya also arrived in Bireun in late December after drifting for days before the Indonesian government eventually allowed them to land and dragged their stricken boat to shore.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar since 2017 after a military crackdown that refugees said included mass killings and rape. Most live in cramped camps in Bangladesh, where human traffickers run lucrative operations promising to find them sanctuary abroad.
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