BANDA ACEH: A boat loaded with more than 100 Rohingya refugees was spotted off Indonesia’s westernmost province with at least one dead body seen on board, local officials said on Saturday.

The mostly Muslim ethnic Rohingya are heavily persecuted in Myanmar, and thousands risk their lives each year on long and dangerous sea journeys to try to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.

The Rohingya boat is anchored around three to four miles off the coast of South Aceh district with its engine turned off, community leader Muhammad Jabal said. He said the boat was first seen on Friday when he and others set off to deliver food and water to the refugees, estimating more than a hundred were on board.

“I saw with my own eyes there was a body. There were many children too aboard the boat,” Jabal said.

The day before the sighting of the boat, the body of a Rohingya woman was found at sea. Local police chief Sabda Man Sobri confirmed she was a member of the ethnic group, but could not comment on whether she was connected to the boat.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2024