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Govt to let stranded Rohingya boat seek refuge
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Amnesty International Indonesia have called on the government to allow a Rohingya refugee boat that has been stranded off the coast of Bireuen, Aceh, for days to come ashore.
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A boat carries Rohingya people stranded off the coast of Aceh on Dec. 27. (Aditya Setiawan/via Reuters)
T
he government will allow a Rohingya refugee boat stranded off the coast of Bireuen, Aceh, for the past few days to come ashore, a senior government official said on Wednesday.
Local officials in Aceh previously said they would provide the refugees on board – who are mostly women and children – with food, fuel and medicine. But they would not allow the boat to land in Indonesia, despite calls from Amnesty International Indonesia and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to do so.
Armed Wijaya, a senior official at the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister, said on Wednesday that the government had now decided to give refuge to the stricken vessel "in the name of humanity".
"The decision was made after considering the emergency conditions the refugees are experiencing on board the boat,” he said.
He said authorities would tow the wooden vessel, which was currently located around 50 nautical miles from the shore, to land immediately and that all refugees would undergo COVID-19 testing upon arrival in Aceh.
On Sunday, local fishermen spotted the packed wooden boat – which was reportedly leaking and had a damaged engine – about 107 kilometers from shore.
The 120 people on board, consisting of 51 children, 62 women and 7 men, were attempting to reach Malaysia, according to the fishermen. The refugees told the fishermen that they had been at sea for 28 days before their boat’s engine had broken.
