20 reported dead as Rohingya boats land in Indonesia
At least 20 Rohingya have died at sea in recent weeks, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday, as boats carrying hundreds of the persecuted Muslims landed in Indonesia while others were believed to be adrift in the Indian Ocean.
A boat washed ashore in Indonesia's Aceh province on Monday carrying 174 Rohingya, most of them dehydrated, fatigued and in need of urgent medical care after weeks at sea, local disaster agency officials said.
Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project, which provides support to Rohingya, said the boat was the same as one earlier reported missing and feared to have sank.
The UNHCR on Monday said 2022 could be one of the deadliest years at sea in almost a decade for the Rohingya, as a growing number of them flee desperate conditions in refugee camps in Bangladesh.
The Rohingya have long been persecuted in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which borders Bangladesh. For years many have fled to countries like Thailand, and Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia between November and April when seas are calmer.
Nearly 1 million live in Bangladesh, including many of the hundreds of thousands who fled a deadly crackdown by Myanmar's military in 2017.
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