ALBAWABA - At least 69 Rohingya migrants were rescued off the western coast of Indonesia on Thursday after their boat capsized the day before, according to an AFP correspondent aboard a ship dispatched to assist them.
According to the journalist, They were stranded on an upturned watercraft after their wooden boat and another that attempted to assist capsized the day before. Six further persons were rescued on Wednesday.
The group consisted of 69 men, women, and children, some of whom had been at sea for weeks in a fragile wooden boat from camps in Bangladesh, where many of Myanmar's highly persecuted minority had fled.
The bright red vessel poking out of the water was the Rohingyas' sole refuge when their wooden boat and another vessel attempting to assist them capsized on Wednesday. The second boat, owned by local fishermen, capsized when the migrants attempted to board in a panic.
According to local fishermen and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), over 150 Rohingya were on board, with several of them being swept away, in what would be another naval tragedy for Myanmar's brutally persecuted ethnic minority.
"The total victims rescued (alive) is 69," the local search and rescue agency said in a statement, adding nine children, 42 men, and 18 women were saved.
After finding them in waters off the coast, authorities brought them to shore in West Aceh's capital Meulaboh on Thursday, according to the local search and rescue agency. The vessels sank 16 nautical miles (30 kilometers) off the coast of West Aceh.
Every year, thousands of the Muslim minority risk their lives on long and expensive sea crossings, often on fragile boats, in an attempt to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.
Other refugees stated they were from Myanmar and had attempted to enter Thailand but were turned down, West Aceh fishing community secretary-general Pawang Amiruddin told AFP Wednesday.
The United Nations refugee agency's protection associate, Faisal Rahman, said it was waiting for the evacuation team to return to shore before gathering "clear and firm data" on those rescued.
