At least 94 Rohingya boat people rescued off Indonesia
At least 94 people believed to be members of Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya ethnic minority have been rescued after their boat broke down off Indonesia's Aceh province, police say.
Indonesian fishermen rescued the group after the vessel carrying them appeared to be sinking on Monday, North Aceh police chief Tri Hadiyanto said.
"A team of the police and the military was sent to the sea and found an Indonesian fishing crew with 94 foreigners," he said, adding that they had yet to reach the shore.
Ethnic Rohingya people react at a rescue ship from the deck of a boat off North Aceh, Indonesia, June 24, 2020. Indonesian fishermen discovered dozens of hungry, weak Rohingya Muslims on the wooden boat adrift off Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh, an official said. AP
Thousands of Rohingya have become stranded in Aceh over the past five years after their boats drifted while en route to Malaysia and other countries.
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UN investigators have accused Myanmar's military of carrying out mass killings and other atrocities against the Muslim minority with "genocidal intent" during a 2017 campaign that forced more than 730,000 across the border into Bangladesh.
– Reported with AAP
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