Six dead on Rohingya boat landing in Indonesia

JAKARTA – Six people have died as nearly 100 Rohingya refugees landed by boat in Aceh province of Indonesia, a local leader said on Thursday, in the latest wave of arrivals to the country in recent days.
Miftach Tjut Adek, chief of the fishing community, told Reuters that the 96 arrivals, including seven children, were still at the local beach in the eastern part of Aceh on Sumatra island.
“There is no solution yet, they are still at the beach,” said Miftach.
About 300 Rohingya came ashore last week in Aceh and North Sumatra provinces. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has called on the Indonesian government to ensure their safety.
UNHCR officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Between October and April, when the seas are calmer, many Rohingya Muslims leave Myanmar on rickety boats for Thailand, Muslim-majority Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh.
The Rohingya leave Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where they are regarded as foreign interlopers from South Asia and are denied citizenship and subjected to abuse.
Over 2,000 Rohingya refugees arrived in Indonesia last year, UNHCR data showed, more than the combined total of arrivals in the previous four years.
Some of them faced rejection in Indonesia as locals grew frustrated by the deluge of arrivals.