The Stateless Rohingya Blog

By Mizzima News ( Mizzima ) – Fifty-four ethnic Rohingyas seeking to flee Burma were found adrift in the sea and rescued by Indonesian fisherman on Wednesday, according to the Jarkataglobe website. A Rohingya man carries mud to build a shelter at the Kutupalong Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s bazar. Photo: Bayazid Akter Hungry and dehydrated, the seafarers were crammed into one wooden boat whose motor broke down. The leader of a fishermen’s association in North Aceh’s Dewantara subdistrict who was involved in the rescue said the Rohingyas were about 12 miles off the coast. They were taken to a mosque in Blukat Teubai village, where villagers gave them food and shelter. “Their condition was serious,” he told the newspaper. “A number of them were very weak. They saw a vessel full of passengers, just being washed back and forth on the waves. The boat’s passengers were calling out for help, food and water.”

By Jakartaglobe Rohingya refugees in Aceh’s Dewantara subdistrict on Wednesday, after being rescued by local fishermen. The Rohingya often face economic and political pressure in their native Burma. (Antara Photo/Rahmad) Banda Aceh. A total of 54 refugees stranded on the open sea off North Aceh were rescued by Acehnese fishermen on Wednesday. The rescued people are all from the Burmese Muslim ethnic minority Rohingya, and are thought to have been en route to seek asylum in Australia when the motor on their wooden vessel broke down. Jamali, a leader of a fishermen’s association in North Aceh’s Dewantara subdistrict, took part in the rescue, which was undertaken at about 2 p.m. “Fishermen from Krueng Geukueh succeeded in evacuating the Rohingya from one wooden boat, which was damaged and its motor dead,” Jamali told journalists. Once safely ashore, the asylum seekers were taken to nearby Blukat Teubai village, where they were accommodated in the annex of a mosque.