Rohingya refugees rescued after drifting at sea for 9 days

Bireuen (Indonesia), April 21

A Rohingya Muslim man among the group of 76 rescued in Indonesian waters in a wooden boat says they were at sea for nine days after leaving Myanmar, where the minority group faces intense persecution, and were hoping to reach Malaysia.

The eight children, 25 women and 43 men were brought ashore on Friday afternoon in Aceh province on the island of Sumatra, the third known attempt by members of the ethnic minority to escape Myanmar by sea this month.

Local authorities say several required medical attention for dehydration and exhaustion.

Fariq Muhammad says he paid the equivalent of about USD 150 for a place on the boat that left from Myanmar’s Rakhine state, where a violent military crackdown has sparked an exodus of some 7,00,000 refugees into neighbouring Bangladesh. — AP