Indonesia to allow disembarkation of Rohingya people stranded at sea

Agencies | Jakarta

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Indonesia will allow Rohingya people who have been in distress at sea off the northern coast of Aceh province in Sumatra to disembark, an official said on Wednesday. 

A deputy at the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Armed Wijaya, said the decision was made based on humanitarian grounds and in consideration of the emergency that boat people are facing, Deutsche press agency (dpa) reported.

The damaged and leaking boat carrying about 120 people including mostly women was first spotted by local fishermen in the waters of Bireuen regency in northern Aceh on Sunday. 

"The boat with the refugees is currently about [80 kilometres] off the coast of Bireuen and will be towed towards land," Wijaya said. 

In light of the pandemic, the boat people will undergo health screening before their data and information is processed further and they will be provided with food, water and other logistic supplies, Wijaya added. 

The decision comes after the UN refugee agency and national advocacy groups urged the Indonesian government to allow safe disembarkation for the stranded boat people. 

According to the humanitarian groups, local fishermen have been providing them with food and water and are on standby around the boat in case of emergency. 

Boats carrying groups of Rohingya people fleeing the atrocities in Myanmar have been stranded for years into the Indonesian waters off the coast of Aceh, the westernmost province which faces the Indian Ocean and the Andaman Sea. 

Indonesia is not a signatory to the UN 1951 refugee convention but has been a transit country for asylum seekers looking for relocation in another country.

There are almost 14,000 refugees registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Indonesia, with Rohingya people making up about 5 per cent of the refugees and more than half coming from Afghanistan.