Six dead as boat carrying Rohingya fleeing Burma arrives in Indonesia

Ninety-six Rohingya refugees, including seven children, are stranded on Sumatra island in Indonesia after escaping on a rickety boat.

Surviving members of the persecuted minority were left stranded on the coast at Meunasah Asan village.

Six people died as nearly 100 Rohingya landed by boat in Indonesia’s Aceh province in the latest wave of arrivals from Burma in recent days.

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has called on Indonesia’s government to ensure their safety

An estimated 2,500 Rohingya arrived by boat in Aceh from January 2023 to March 2024, as many refugees as had arrived in Indonesia in the previous eight years, the UN agency said.

The mainly Muslim ethnic group faces persecution in Burma, and hundreds of thousands have fled brutal military crackdowns, seeking refuge in neighboring Bangladesh.

Thousands have left on perilous journeys for Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia on rickety boats, taking advantage of calmer seas between October and April.

Buddhist-majority Burma regards the Rohingya as foreign interlopers from South Asia, denying them citizenship and subjecting them to abuse.