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South Aceh authorities rescue six ill Rohingya
Local authorities have transported six out of 151 Rohyingas stranded at sea for medical treatment at a South Aceh hospital, while the police have arrested three Labuhan Haji residents over suspicion of human trafficking.
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Acehnese people (right) distribute supplies on Oct. 21, 2024 to a fishing boat carrying 151 Rohingya refugees in the waters off Padang Bakau village, Labuhan Haji district, South Aceh. The group of stranded refugees, comprising 59 children, 79 women and 13 men, are awaiting word from the Aceh administration and the central government on their status. (Antara Foto/Syifa Yulinnas)
P
ersonnel from a local search and rescue agency (Basarnas) rescued six Rohingya refugees on Sunday from a boat carrying more than 100 refugees stranded off the coast of Labuhan Haji district in South Aceh regency.
Local police also arrested three residents of Labuhan Haji over suspicion of their involvement in human trafficking, including allegedly picking up the refugees at sea and then transporting them overland to Pekanbaru, Riau.
“We rescued six Rohingya immigrants because they were sick. The rest are still on the motorboat,” Basarnas Meulaboh coordinator Juanda said on Sunday, as quoted by Antara, adding that the refugees had been transported by ambulance to Yuliddin Away Regional General Hospital (RSUD) in Tapaktuan district, South Aceh regency.
The Rohingya people are an ethnic minority in Myanmar who fled a military crackdown in 2017, with many seeking refuge at Cox’s Bazar in neighboring Bangladesh, the site of the largest Rohinya refugee camp.
Indonesia has seen a recent influx of Rohingya refugees and mounting opposition from residents in Aceh, including an incident last December, when hundreds of university students stormed a temporary shelter in Banda Aceh and demanded the Rohingya refugees there to leave.
According to Juanda, the boat was carrying 151 Rohingyas: 79 women, 13 men and 59 children under 10 years old.
“Among the six people we evacuated were two women, two men, a child and a pregnant woman. The [rescue operation] went smoothly without a hitch,” he added.
