More Rohingyas Arrive in Aceh

The Jakarta Globe, Nurdin Hassan & Ismira Lutfia, February 4, 2009

 

Banda Aceh. A boat carrying 198 ethnic Rohingyas from Burma, who claim to have been set adrift by Thai soldiers 21 days earlier, was found in the Malacca Sea on Tuesday. An Indonesian fishing vessel towed the boat to a port in East Aceh, bringing the number of Rohingya boat people stranded in Aceh Province over the last few weeks to 391, officials said.

 

The 15-meter long boat, which did not have a name, a flag or an engine, was towed to the small Kuala Idi harbor in East Aceh district, according to Abubakar, a port official there.

 

“Upon arrival at the harbor, around 4 a.m., some of them collapsed because they were very weak. Local fishermen helped them, giving them food and drink,” Abubakar said.

 

The Kuala Idi marine outpost commander, Second Lt. Tedi Sutardi, said the men claimed they had previously tried to land in Thailand.

 

“But Thai soldiers towed them back to the sea and cut the rope, so that they were left to drift for 21 days without food or drink. There are clear traces of beatings on them,” Tedi said.

 

That incident spurred an outcry by human rights groups claiming that the Thai soldiers had disregarded the rights of the displaced people, whom they consider as refugees.

 

Leaders of the Rohingyas, residents of Burma’s western Arakan State, have long claimed persecution by the country’s military government, with tens of thousands having fled to Bangladesh and other places in recent years.

 

The Thai government has said the Rohingyas are merely seeking economic opportunity and are illegal immigrants.

 

Volunteers from the Indonesian Red Cross and local residents took survivors to a hospital in Idi. “The people of Idi are very concerned for them because [the Rohingyas] are fellow Muslims. Many of the people took some of the survivors to their homes to provide them with food, clothes and allow them to clean themselves,” Abubakar said.

 

Abdul Munir, an East Aceh district official, said that the Rohingnyas would be temporarily sheltered in a vacant house owned by the Idi Rayeuk subdistrict chief. Local district authorities also set up a soup kitchen there.

 

“One of them, Rahmat, can speak Malay. According tho him, they had numbered 220 but that 22 had starved to death. They had been adrift at sea for 21 days,” Abdul said.

 

“As long as they are here, their food and other needs will be covered by the East Aceh district administration. But the local population are also very enthusiastic in helping. They have contributed clothes, rice and other food,” he added.

 

Idi general hospital director, Edi Gunawan, said that 91 of the Rohingyas were being treated for dehydration.

 

“All patients, including a 13-year-old, have been given intravenous treatment to restore the liquid level in their body, but in general, they are all in good condition. They are mostly weak because of not having eaten for days,” Edi said.

 

A boat carrying 193 other Rohingyas was found off the northern tip of Aceh on Jan. 7. That group had also been adrift at sea and most were too weak to disembark on their own.

 

The 193, which included 19 Bangladeshis, have been sheltered at a Navy base on the island, but have since been off limits to the media. 

 

Photo: Nurullah, a 20-year-old Rohingya from Myanmar, receives medical treatment Wednesday at a local hospital after being rescued off the coast of Aceh Province. (Tarmizy Harva, Reuters)

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