Dozens of Rohingya Muslims were found on a beach in Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh on Sunday after weeks at sea, AP reported.
The group of 58 men arrived on Indrapatra beach at Ladong, a fishing village in Aceh Besar district, early on Sunday, according to local police.
According to Rohingya activists and refugee officials, at least five boats with refugees left Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar in November. While one reached Indonesia, and two others were rescued by Sri Lanka and Vietnam, the fate of the two remained uncertain for weeks.
The UNHCR Aisa Pacific on Saturday said it feared that 180 Rohingya refugees stranded for weeks in the Andaman Sea may have died.
It is unclear if this is the same boat acknowledged by the UN.
At least three of the men were rushed to a health clinic for medical care, and others are also receiving various medical treatments, police informed reporters.
It wasn’t clear where the group was travelling from or if they were part of the group of 190 Rohingya refugees that has been adrift in the Andaman Sea. But one of the men who spoke some Malay said they had been at sea for more than a month and had aimed to land in Malaysia to seek a better life and work there, AP stated quoted the local police chief.
