State media reported that eighty-one migrants from Myanmar’s Rohingya ethnic minority arrived by boat in Indonesia’s Aceh province on Friday after a months-long journey.
The state-run Antara news agency reported that the migrants set sail from Myanmar en route to Malaysia, but ended up stranded on Idaman island off Sumatra after being turned away by Malaysian authorities over concerns about COVID-19.
According to Antara nine of the 90 people on board died during the journey, one Rohingya on board said.
“Because our boat leaked, Indian fishermen gave us this boat to continue our journey,” he was quoted as saying.
A local village chief said the migrants’ new boat broke down and they brought the migrants ashore using rubber boats.
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In September 2020 about 300 Rohingya landed in Aceh after months at sea.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) at that time said some of them had agreed to pay smugglers more than 2,000 dollars to take them to Malaysia.
UN investigators accused Myanmar’s military of carrying out mass killings and other atrocities against the Muslim minority with “genocidal intent” during a 2017 campaign that forced more than 730,000 across the border into Bangladesh.
