Jakarta, Nov 16 (EFE).- A boat with 146 Rohingya arrived in northwest Indonesia on Wednesday night, a day after two other boats with almost 190 arrived in the same area, the local non-profit Geutanyoe Foundation said on Thursday.
The NGO, in a statement, said that the boat, carrying 47 men, 60 women, and 39 children, arrived on the coast of Pasi Merandeh village, in the Pide district of Aceh province, which hosts many members of the persecuted Muslim minority originating from Myanmar.
Rohingyas put their lives at risk to cross the dangerous ocean in an attempt to escape Myanmar, where they face persecution, and refugee camps in Bangladesh, where they face increased crime and government restrictions.
Two other boats arrived in the area of Aceh on Tuesday with about 151 and 36 people, respectively.
The Geutanyoe Foundation, which collaborates with local authorities on emergency matters, said Tuesday that the Rohingya left Bangladesh, where a million of them are struggling in overcrowded refugee camps, on an unspecified date.
Upon arrival in Indonesia, local authorities collected their data and examined their health status before sending the group to temporary reception centers.
In March, a total of 184 Rohingya, including 70 women and 20 children, reached the shores of Aceh province by boat.
The UN refugee agency UNHCR said that more than 3,500 Rohingya refugees embarked on sea journeys in 39 boats in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal in 2022, and at least 348 of them died or disappeared on those journeys.
In August 2017, Myanmar army launched a brutal crackdown against the Rohingyas in northern Rakhine State of the country, forcing 774,000 Rohingyas to flee to neighboring Bangladesh, where they continue to live in overcrowded camps, along with other Rohingya who fled in previous waves of violence. EFE
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