Dozens of Rohingya refugees stranded on the rusty hull of a capsized ship were rescued yesterday after the dehydrated and sunburnt group had drifted at sea for more than a day.
The group included 69 men, women and children, some of whom had been at sea for weeks on a rickety wooden boat from squalid camps in Bangladesh, where many of the heavily persecuted Myanmar minority have fled.
The reddish hull of the vessel poking out of the water was the Rohingya’s only refuge after their wooden boat and another vessel trying to help them both capsized on Wednesday. The second boat, belonging to local fisher, overturned when the refugees tried to climb on in a panic.
Photo: Reuters
“Why did the boat capsize? There was heavy rain,” a 27-year-old survivor who gave his name as Dostgior said in broken Indonesian.
Survivors estimated that about 150 Rohingya had been on board with dozens swept away, local fishers and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said, in what would represent another tragedy at sea for the heavily persecuted Myanmar minority.
“The total victims rescued [alive] is 69,” the local search-and-rescue agency said in a statement, adding that nine children, 42 men and 18 women were saved.
The authorities were yesterday taking them to shore in West Aceh’s capital, Meulaboh, after spotting them in waters off the coast, the local search-and-rescue agency said. The boats sank 16 nautical miles (30km) off the coast in West Aceh.
Thousands of the mostly Muslim minority risk their lives each year on long and expensive sea journeys, often on flimsy boats, to try to reach Malaysia or Indonesia. However, they often do so during Indonesia’s monsoon season when conditions can drag them to land, making their journeys even more hazardous.
Agence France-Presse footage from the boat showed men, women and children being taken to safety by the local search-and-rescue agency.
“I’d been at sea for 15 days, but there are others here who have been here longer than that. Some have been here for a month,” Dostgior said.
He said he had traveled from Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh where many Rohingya have fled.
“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. Once in Malaysia, I will pay someone else to enter,” he said.
Other refugees said they were from Myanmar and had tried to reach Thailand, but were rejected, West Aceh fishing community secretary-general Pawang Amiruddin said on Wednesday.
UNHCR protection associate Faisal Rahman said it was waiting for the evacuation team to arrive back to land to get “clear and firm data” on those rescued.
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