Fishermen rescue 76 Rohingya
BIREUEN, Indonesia — Indonesian fishermen rescued 76 Rohingya Muslims stranded off the coast of Aceh on Friday, authorities said, in the latest attempt by members of the persecuted ethnic group to flee Myanmar by sea.
The police chief of Bireuen regency in Aceh on the island of Sumatra, Riza Yulianto, said the group of eight children, 25 women and 43 men was brought ashore in their wooden boat Friday afternoon. It was unclear how long they had been at sea.
Aceh’s Disaster Mitigation Agency said the Rohingya told local authorities that they wanted to reach Australia.
The agency said it was coordinating with the local government to provide temporary shelter. It said seven people were given medical treatment.
Officials were interviewing the refugees, and villagers had donated clothes and food, said a representative from the local civic group Rapid Response Action.
An Indonesian fishing boat rescued a group of five Rohingya Muslims found in weak condition off westernmost Aceh province on April 6 after a 20-day voyage in which five other people died.
Just days before, Malaysian authorities intercepted a vessel carrying 56 people believed to be Rohingya refugees and brought the vessel and its passengers to shore.
About 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar’s western Rakhine state to neighboring Bangladesh in the past seven months to escape a brutal counterinsurgency campaign by Myanmar’s army.
The Rohingya are treated as undesirables in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar and are denied citizenship.