Hundreds of Rohingya come ashore in Indonesia, joining about 1,000 this week

22/11/2023 13:15

        More than 200 ethnic Rohingya came ashore in Indonesia's Aceh province late on Tuesday, taking total arrivals of members of the Myanmar Muslim minority to more than 1,000 for the week, a leader of the province's fishing community said.
        
        During November to April, when the seas are calmer, many members of the persecuted minority leave Myanmar on rickety boats for Thailand, Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia.
        
        Acehnese fishing community chief Miftach Cut Adek told Reuters that the latest arrivals, 216 mostly of them women and children, "weak and lacking nutrition", had arrived near Sabang, off the northern tip of Sumatra island, late on Tuesday.
        
        Mitra Salima Suryono, a spokesperson for the U.N. refugee agency in Indonesia, said there did not appear to be any particular reason for the big number of Rohingya arriving.
        
        Mitra said Aceh villagers had tried to prevent hundreds of Rohingya arriving in the Bireuen area in northeast Sumatra last week although they eventually came ashore on Sunday.