AP

UN: 26 Rohingya refugees died at sea making perilous journey

Dec 26, 2022, 7:43 AM | Updated: Dec 27, 2022, 6:25 am

Ethnic Rohingya men line up as they wait for a registration process by UNHCR at a temporary shelter...

Ethnic Rohingya men line up as they wait for a registration process by UNHCR at a temporary shelter in Pidie, Aceh province, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. The United Nations agency is seeking information about the voyage of over 100 Rohingya Muslim refugees who landed on an Indonesian beach this week, and warned Tuesday that there will likely be more. (AP Photo/Rahmat Mirza)

(AP Photo/Rahmat Mirza)


              Ethnic Rohingya men line up as they wait for a registration process by UNHCR at a temporary shelter in Pidie, Aceh province, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. The United Nations agency is seeking information about the voyage of over 100 Rohingya Muslim refugees who landed on an Indonesian beach this week, and warned Tuesday that there will likely be more. (AP Photo/Rahmat Mirza)
            
              Ethnic Rohingya people sit at the back of a military truck upon arrival at a temporary shelter after their boat landed in Pidie, Aceh province, Indonesia, Monday, Dec. 26, 2022. A second group in two days of weak and exhausted Rohingya Muslims landed on a beach in Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh on Monday after weeks at sea, officials said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Mirza)
            
              Ethnic Rohingya people sit inside a military truck upon arrival at a temporary shelter after their boat landed in Pidie, Aceh province, Indonesia, Monday, Dec. 26, 2022. A second group in two days of weak and exhausted Rohingya Muslims landed on a beach in Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh on Monday after weeks at sea, officials said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Mirza)
            
              Ethnic Rohingya women and children sit at the back of a military truck upon arrival at a temporary shelter after their boat landed in Pidie, Aceh province, Indonesia, Monday, Dec. 26, 2022. A second group in two days of weak and exhausted Rohingya Muslims landed on a beach in Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh on Monday after weeks at sea, officials said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Mirza)
            
              Ethnic Rohingya women and children sit on the floor upon arrival at a temporary shelter after their boat landed in Pidie, Aceh province, Indonesia, Monday, Dec. 26, 2022. A second group in two days of weak and exhausted Rohingya Muslims landed on a beach in Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh on Monday after weeks at sea, officials said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Mirza)
            
              Indonesian soldiers help ethnic Rohingya women and children to step out of a military truck upon arrival at a temporary shelter after their boat landed in Pidie, Aceh province, Indonesia, Monday, Dec. 26, 2022. A second group in two days of weak and exhausted Rohingya Muslims landed on a beach in Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh on Monday after weeks at sea, officials said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Mirza)
            
              Indonesian soldiers help ethnic Rohingya women and children to step out of a military truck upon arrival at a temporary shelter after their boat landed in Pidie, Aceh province, Indonesia, Monday, Dec. 26, 2022. A second group in two days of weak and exhausted Rohingya Muslims landed on a beach in Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh on Monday after weeks at sea, officials said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Mirza)
            
              Ethnic Rohingya women and children sit inside an ambulance upon arrival at a temporary shelter after their boat landed in Pidie, Aceh province, Indonesia, Monday, Dec. 26, 2022. A second group in two days of weak and exhausted Rohingya Muslims landed on a beach in Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh on Monday after weeks at sea, officials said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Mirza)

PIDIE, Indonesia (AP) — At least 26 Rohingya Muslims had died in dire conditions during a month at open sea while making a dangerous voyage that brought scores of others to safety in Indonesia, a U.N. agency said Tuesday, adding there will likely be more.

Exhausted women and children were among 185 people who disembarked from a rickety wooden boat on Monday in a coastal village in Aceh’s Pidie district, authorities said. A distressing video circulated widely on social media showed the Rohingya worn out and emaciated, with many crying for help.

“They are very weak because of dehydration and exhaustion after weeks at sea,” said local police chief Fauzi, who goes by a single name.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said that survivors told the agency that 26 people died during the long journey.

One of the refugees, who identified himself as Rosyid, told The Associated Press that they left the refugee camp in Bangladesh at the end of November and drifted on the open sea. He said at least “20 of us died aboard due to high waves and sick, and their bodies were thrown into the sea.”

According to UNHCR, more than 2,000 people are reported to have taken risky sea journeys in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal this year, and nearly 200 have reportedly died.

UNHCR has also received unconfirmed reports of one additional boat with some 180 people still missing, with all passengers presumed dead.

“In the absence of an immediate, resourceful, and coordinated response by regional governments to help Rohingya refugees still aboard imperiled vessels, lives may be lost,” Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid said in an statement. “This is unacceptable.”

Chris Lewa, the director of the Arakan Project, which works in support of Myanmar’s Rohingya, said the latest arrivals were among five groups of Rohingya who had left refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar district in Bangladesh by smaller boats to avoid detection by local coast guards before they were transferred onto five larger boats for their respective journeys.

More than 1 million Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar over several decades, including about 740,000 who crossed the border starting in August 2017, when the Myanmar military launched a brutal crackdown.

Myanmar’s security forces were accused of mass rapes, killings and torching thousands of homes, and international courts are reviewing charges of genocide against them.

“This year could be one of the deadliest in recent memory for Rohingya people making the dangerous journey by sea. They continue to risk it all because of harsh conditions in refugee camps in Bangladesh, where security and other living conditions have deteriorated, and the ever-worsening situation at home in Myanmar, which has been under military rule since a coup almost two years ago,” Amnesty International’s Usman said.

Malaysia has been a common destination for many of the refugees arriving by boat, but they also have been detained in the country. Engine troubles make others seek safety in Aceh province in Indonesia, on the way to Malaysia.

UNHCR praised authorities and Indonesia’s local community who brought ashore more than 200 desperate Rohingya, many of whom were in need of urgent medical attention.

Indonesian fishermen and local authorities rescued and disembarked two groups, 58 on Sunday and 174 on Monday, said Ann Maymann, the UNHCR representative in Indonesia, “We welcome this act of humanity by local communities and authorities in Indonesia.”

____

Karmini reported from Jakarta, Indonesia. Associated Press writer Grant Peck in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Image: A cargo ship is stuck under the part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after ...

Associated Press

Authorities identify 2 bodies recovered at site of Baltimore bridge collapse

A major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below.

2 days ago

Photo: Mountaineer Jim Whittaker has died at 95....

Gene Johnson, The Associated Press

Lou Whittaker, among the most famous American mountaineers, has died at age 95

Lou Whittaker, a legendary American mountaineer who helped lead ascents of Mount Everest, K2 and Denali, has died at age 95.

2 days ago

File photo: Former Sen. Joe Lieberman speaks in Washington on Jan. 18, 2024....

Associated Press

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP pick in 2000, dead at 82

Former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who nearly won the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket with Al Gore in 2000, has died.

2 days ago

islamic state attack...

Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press

What we know after the Islamic State group claims responsibility for Moscow massacre

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133 people.

5 days ago

Moscow shooting...

The Associated Press

Russia: 60 dead, 145 injured in concert hall raid; Islamic State group claims responsibility

Assailants burst into a concert hall in Moscow on Friday and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing over 60 people, injuring more than 100.

7 days ago

Photo: Britain's Kate, Duchess of Cambridge visits 282 (East Ham) Squadron, RAF Air Cadets, Cornwel...

Associated Press

Kate Middleton announces she has cancer, is undergoing chemotherapy

Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, says she is undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer. She has been out of view since Christmas.

7 days ago

UN: 26 Rohingya refugees died at sea making perilous journey