Migrants rescued at sea
Horrific scenes on packed boat
DESPERATE migrants facing certain death as their overcrowded boat began sinking, fought for space on the stricken vessel, throwing some people overboard before they were plucked to safety yesterday by passing Indonesian fishermen.
The vessel containing more than 700 Muslim minority Rohingya from Myanmar and Bangladesh – which authorities say was turned away from Malaysian waters – is just the latest horror story to emerge from a human-trafficking crisis gripping Southeast Asia.
The region is facing mounting calls to address the problem but hopes of finding a coordinated solution look dim, with Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand vowing to turn back stricken boats and Myanmar threatening to boycott a planned regional summit on the issue.
However, Indonesian authorities’ pledge to turn away vessels did not stop local fishermen from going to the rescue of the latest boatload of forlorn, emaciated migrants – who included 61 children – to arrive in the country’s waters.
Officials described harrowing scenes on the packed boat, with the vessel half under water by the time it was found off Aceh province late on Thursday and children swimming around it. The migrants had been at sea for two months, authorities said.
“They were killing each other, throwing people overboard,” a Langsa police chief said. “Because [the boat] was over capacity some people had to go and probably they were defending themselves.”
Khairul Nova, a search and rescue agency official in Langsa, said the migrants began jumping from the listing boat when they saw the local fishermen approaching, desperate to be rescued.
“Their condition is generally bad, some of them have died at sea,” he said, without giving further details. “They were starving at sea, they fought among themselves.”
He said that some had sustained injuries to their heads, arms and legs and had been taken to hospital.
The horror story in Indonesia only added to the sense of crisis in Southeast Asia. A boat carrying 300 Rohingya was discovered in Thai waters on Thursday, and among its passengers were many children and women who wept as they begged for food and water.
The boat left Thai waters early yesterday after authorities repaired its engine and provided some food, with officials saying it was headed for Aceh. – AFP