Banda Aceh, Indonesia: Indonesian police say they have rescued 76 hungry, dehydrated Rohingya asylum seekers who fled Myanmar in a rickety boat hobbled by a storm.
Local police chief Lt Col Djadjuli says fishermen towed the boat to shore Monday after discovering it off Indonesia's westernmost Aceh province.
Rohingya migrants sit on the boat at a port in Aceh, after their boat was rescued off Aceh, Indonesia on Monday. AP
The group — all members of the ethnic Rohingya minority — includes five women and five children, said Djadjuli, who uses one name.
One migrant told investigators they were fleeing sectarian violence in Myanmar, hoping to seek asylum in Australia.
Many Rohingya have left Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which considers them illegal Muslim settlers from neighboring Bangladesh.
On Friday, Buddhist fishermen and Rohingya Muslim asylum seekers brawled at an Indonesian immigration detention center following an argument over rising tensions in their homeland, killing eight and injuring 15.
Associated Press
No comments:
Post a Comment