More than 700 migrants land in Indonesia’s Aceh

More than 700 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants arrived in Indonesia Friday after they were rescued by fishing boats when their boat sank off the coast of Aceh province, police said. After reaching Indonesian territory their boat then went down but was spotted by local fishermen who ferried them to shore, he added. The official, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said the migrants were brought to the port in Langsa, on Aceh’s east coast, aboard six fishing boats.

According to initial information we got from them, they were pushed away by the Malaysian navy to the border of Indonesian waters.

Sunarya, Langsa police chief

Malaysian patrol ships on Wednesday pushed back two migrant vessels off the northern Malaysian islands of Penang and Langkawi, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Another boat packed with desperate Rohingya migrants was also believed to be on the way to Indonesia after leaving Thai waters overnight after the kingdom blocked it from entering. Hundreds of boat people have arrived on Thai, Malaysian and Indonesian soil since May 1, when the discovery of mass graves believed to belong to Bangladeshi and Myanmar migrants in southern Thailand prompted a crackdown on trafficking and smugglers to abandon their cargo.

Asia-Pacific rohingya