Almost 300 Rohingya refugees on Monday 7 September they landed on a beach in Aceh, a region of Indonesia located on the island of Sumatra. The refugees belonging to the Muslim minority of Myanmar they remained at sea, on a wooden boat, for about six months after both Malaysia and Bangladesh they refused to disembark them, for fear that among the refugees there were cases of coronavirus infection.
Aceh Police Chief Iptu Irwansya explained that 297 Rohingya landed, including 181 women and 14 children. The head of the Red Cross of the city of Lhokseumawe, Junaidi Yahya, said the refugees were isolated in a temporary detention center due to fears of coronavirus contagion.
In June the fishermen of Aceh they had rescued more than 100 Rohingya refugees, including 79 women and several children, after Indonesian authorities initially threatened to turn them away. Hundreds of Rohingya in recent months had embarked to escape persecution in Myanmar and from refugee camps in Bangladesh, seeking refuge in other Southeast Asian nations, but had been rejected for restrictions due to the pandemic. Refugees disembarked on Monday would sail from southern Bangladesh in late March or early April, and were initially headed for Malaysia.
To escape from countries where they are persecuted, Rohingya refugees rely on traffickers who promise them to get them to other countries. Second Chris Lewa |, director of the Arakan Project, a non-profit association that deals with the humanitarian crisis of the Rohingya, the smugglers had boarded the refugees fleeing on several boats. Some Rohingya had managed to land in Malaysia and Indonesia in June, but hundreds more remained at sea. Also according to Lewa, the traffickers held the refugees “hostage” because not all had paid for the trip. It is unclear whether the refugees were now disembarked after paying and how they survived at sea for six months.
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