54 Rohingyas Stranded in North Aceh

Banda Aceh, Feb 1 (TAG) –  A rickety wooden boat carrying more than 50 migrants from Myanmar's Rohingya minority has been found drifting off Krueng Geukueh waters in north Aceh district on Wednesday.

The 54 male migrants from the Muslim community had been at sea for several days in Malacca Strait when their boat experienced engine trouble, Jamali, Krueng Geukueh’s Panglima Laot said.

Panglima Laot is a community organization forged in the Aceh province's maritime traditions.

"The 54 Rohingyas were rescued by Acehnese traditional fishermen after their boat's engine malfunctioned. Locals have given them food and waters as their condition were weak," he  added.

The men, many looking pale and tired, were being temporarily housed near Krueng Geukueh port in the district’s capital of Lhokseumawe at the northern tip of Sumatra island after being rescued.

Jamali said that locals cannot communicate with the Rohingya boat people because no one of them could speak Indonesian or English. They communicated each other by using sign language and drawings.

This is the fourth case of Rohingyas stranded in Aceh waters over the last three years. In January 2009, some 194 boat people rescued in Sabang’s Weh island waters. A month later, another rickety boat with full of 198 Rohingyas stranded in Idi Rayeuk of east Aceh district. In Februari 2011, some 129 Rohingyas rescued by Aceh fishermen in Krueng Raya of Aceh Besar district waters.

Myanmar effectively denies citizenship rights to the Rohingya, leading to discrimination and abuse and contributing to a regional humanitarian crisis as hundreds try to flee the country by boat every year.[]