Data revealed by Aceh Police general crimes unit chief Sr. Comr. Sony Sanjaya during a recent media briefing showed that two of the suspects were identified as fishermen from East Aceh regency, another one was a woman from Medan in North Sumatra, and the other two people were of Rohingya ethnicity.

The two fishermen were tasked with renting a small boat and picking up dozens of refugees from a large ship in the middle of the sea.

The vessel initially brought around 900 refugees, the police claimed. “They put Rohingya refugees on a smaller ship which later broke,” Sony said on Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com.

Local fishermen later rescued the 94 refugees in the waters of North Aceh regency on June 24.

Meanwhile, the female suspect from Medan was paid by the two suspects of Rohingya ethnicity to pick up three refugees from a camp in Lhokseumawe, Aceh.

“The refugees were going to be taken to Medan, before being eventually transported to Malaysia,” Sony said.

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