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Dozens of Rohingya Refugees Rescued by Indonesian SAR after Their Boat Capsizes

Associated Press
March 21, 2024 | 6:39 pm
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Rohingya refugees stand on their capsized boat before being rescued in the waters off West Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, March 21, 2024. The wooden boat carrying dozens of Rohingya Muslims capsized off the northernmost coast on Wednesday, according to local fishermen. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
Rohingya refugees stand on their capsized boat before being rescued in the waters off West Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, March 21, 2024. The wooden boat carrying dozens of Rohingya Muslims capsized off the northernmost coast on Wednesday, according to local fishermen. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)

Meulaboh. An Indonesian search and rescue ship on Thursday located a capsized wooden boat that had been carrying dozens of Rohingya Muslim refugees and began pulling survivors who had been standing on its hull to safety.

An AP photographer aboard the rescue ship said 10 people had been taken aboard local fishing boats and another 59 were being saved by the Indonesian craft.

Men, women and children, weak and soaked from the night’s rain, wept as the rescue operation got underway and people were taken aboard a rubber dinghy to the rescue boat.

Dozens of Rohingya Refugees Rescued by Indonesian SAR after Their Boat Capsizes
A member of the National Search and Rescue Agency uses binoculars to scan the horizon during the search for a boat carrying Rohingya refugees reportedly capsized in the waters off West Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, March 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)

It was unclear how many refugees were aboard the small craft when it capsized off Indonesia’s northernmost coast on Wednesday, with six survivors initially rescued by local fishermen estimated between 60 and 100 people.

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It was unclear whether all managed to cling to the capsized craft overnight or whether some had drowned.

Indonesia’s search and rescue team only left Banda Aceh city in the evening Wednesday, many hours after the capsizing, and initially had difficulty locating the boat in the choppy waters off the coast.

It finally found the boat and the survivors about midday on Thursday.

Dozens of Rohingya Refugees Rescued by Indonesian SAR after Their Boat Capsizes
Rohingya refugees climb onto a National Search and Rescue Agency boat as they are being rescued after their boat capsized in the waters off West Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, March 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)

Amiruddin, a tribal fishing community leader in Aceh Barat district, said those rescued indicated that the boat was sailing east when it started leaking and then strong currents pushed it toward the west of Aceh. The six said others were still trying to survive on the capsized craft.

About 740,000 Rohingya were resettled in Bangladesh to escape the brutal counterinsurgency campaign by security forces in their homeland of Myanmar.

Thousands have been trying to flee overcrowded camps in Bangladesh to neighboring countries with Indonesia seeing a spike in refugee numbers since November which prompted it to call on the international community for help. Rohingya arriving in Aceh face some hostility from some fellow Muslims.

Dozens of Rohingya Refugees Rescued by Indonesian SAR after Their Boat Capsizes
Rohingya refugees board a National Search and Rescue Agency ship after being rescued from their capsized boat in the waters off West Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, March 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)

Indonesia, like Thailand and Malaysia, is not a signatory to the United Nations’ 1951 Refugee Convention outlining their legal protections, and so is not obligated to accept them. However, they have so far provided temporary shelter to refugees in distress.

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