The refugees attempted to communicate in sign language to the residents to inform them that the ship's engine had lost power. After hours of preventing the ship from anchoring, villagers tried to pull the ship away to the open seas with a small boat.
esidents flocked to a beach in Bireuen, Aceh, on Thursday to prevent a Rohingya refugee ship from landing and dismounting passengers, in the latest incident amid a series of arrivals of the refugees on Sumatran shores in the past week.
Hundreds of Rohingya refugees reached different parts of northern Aceh shores on overcrowded wooden boats in the past week. At least 600 have reached on different shores in Bireuen and Pidie regencies as of Thursday, according to local officials.
In Pulo Pineung Meunasah Dua village, Bireuen, residents flocked to the beach area on Thursday to prevent a Rohingya refugee ship from offloading passengers. The residents were alerted to the ship's arrival at 4:50 a.m., according to village chief Mukhtaruddin.
"Hundreds of residents arrived [on shore] to reject the ship from dismounting refugees in the village," he said.
The refugees attempted to communicate in sign language to the residents to inform them that the ship's engine had lost power. After hours of preventing the ship from anchoring, villagers tried to pull the ship away to the open seas with a small boat. However, the small boat failed to do it because of the ship's weight.
Police and local officials sent security personnel to prevent the situation from escalating. A United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative also arrived on the scene to mediate the situation.
They said the residents rejected the boat due to misconduct by other Rohingya refugees in Aceh, including fleeing from their camps.
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