FROM THE DVB NEWSROOOM
Indonesian authorities recovered two bodies and said more than 70 Rohingya are “presumed dead or missing” from the shores of Aceh Province on Saturday. Local fishermen reported several other drowning victims washed up after a vessel carrying 151 people capsized off the coast of Indonesia on Wednesday.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stated that 75 were rescued on Friday. Indonesia’s national Search and Rescue (SAR) agency initiated a rescue mission after six refugees swam ashore on March 20.
More than 2,300 Rohingya refugees arrived in Aceh Province in 2023. Rohingya have increasingly been taking to the seas to escape the harsh living conditions in Burma and the refugee camps of Bangladesh. The UNHCR documented that 569 Rohingya died or went missing during dangerous sea crossings in 2023.
