Refugees on 2 boats arrive in Indonesia
ACEH BESAR, Indonesia — Two boats carrying more than 300 Rohingya Muslims, including emaciated women and children, arrived at Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh on Sunday morning after being adrift for weeks.
One boat, which had been at sea for about six weeks and carrying 135 people, arrived at a beach in Lamreh village in Aceh Besar Regency. The boat held 65 women, 35 men, 20 girls and 15 boys.
“The boat was sinking. We had no food or water left,” said Shahidul Islam, 34. He said they had left their refugee camp in Bangladesh.
But residents around the beach in Lamreh village hesitated to have the refugees near their homes. The residents took the 135 refugees in four trucks to the Aceh governor’s office in the city of Banda Aceh on Sunday night.
The other boat carrying 180 people — 74 women, 53 men, 27 girls and 26 boys — arrived at a beach in Blang Raya village in Pidie Regency. It had been adrift in the Andaman Sea without adequate supplies for about 27 days.
Mahmud Husein, 25, said he gave the boat owner $363 to help him leave Bangladesh.
“We came to Indonesia, but we want to go to other countries if they want to help us,” Husein said.
Another boat, carrying more refugees, embarked from Bangaldesh at the same time, Husein confirmed, but it remained missing. The U.N. refugee agency warned that people onboard could die if more was not done to rescue them.
Since November, more than 1,500 Rohingya refugees have arrived by boat in Indonesia’s Aceh province. Some were denied landing by the residents in Aceh Utara district and Sabang Island, sparking concerns from human rights organizations.