Some 240 Rohingya Muslims, including women and children, are afloat off the coast of Indonesia after two attempts to land were rejected by local residents. Officials said the boat most recently tried to land in Aceh Utara district, in Indonesia s Aceh province, on Thursday afternoon, but left a few hours later.
About 250 Rohingya refugees in an overcrowded wooden boat have been turned away from western Indonesia and sent back to sea, residents said Friday. The group from the persecuted Myanmar minority arrived off the coast of Aceh province on Thursday but angry locals told them not to land the boat. Some refugees then swam ashore and collapsed from exhaustion on the beach.
Amid concerns about trafficking and a lack of resources to accommodate yet more people fleeing, some villagers gave out supplies and repaired the persecuted minority’s boat after desperate passengers tried to sink it.
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