Jakarta: Indonesian authorities on Wednesday allowed a boat carrying an estimated 120 Rohingya refugees to land in the country.
The decision came after several days of warnings that the ship could sink in the country’s northernmost province of Aceh.
The boat was first sighted by local fishermen on Sunday, about 60 miles off the coast of Biruen Regency.
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said the vessel was reportedly leaking and in danger of capsizing, calling on the Indonesian government to allow Rohingya refugees to reach the shore.
Local authorities in Biruen had earlier said they were unwilling to accept refugees, citing COVID-19 transmission fears, and were still awaiting instructions from the central government.
The Maritime Safety Agency, or Bakmala, has since confirmed that the wooden boat’s engine was broken.
“The Indonesian government decided on December 29, in the name of humanity, to accommodate Rohingya refugees stranded on a boat in the waters of Aceh,” said Sashastra Vijaya, head of the refugee task force at the Kordi-neting ministry. Political, Legal and Security Affairs said in a statement.
“The decision was taken after considering the emergency situation being faced by the refugees on the boat,” he said.
Vijaya said the exact number of refugees was unknown, but they were mostly women and children.
They will receive necessary assistance and undergo COVID-19 screening. Since Sunday, the Rohingya have been supported by the local fishing community, which supplied them with food and water.
According to Reza Moulana, a liaison officer for the Guetanio Foundation, a humanitarian group based in Aceh, the boat was so full that many of the refugees on board could not sit.
He told Arab News that if they were not allowed to disembark, “we would collect bodies from the sea instead.” More than 1 million Rohingya Muslims – members of an ethnic and religious minority in Myanmar – have fled persecution in their home country. A military action in Rakhine State in 2017.
The majority sought asylum in neighboring Bangladesh.
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