Six dead as boat carrying nearly 100 Rohingya arrives in Indonesia

Jakarta: Six people have died as nearly 100 Rohingya landed by boat in Indonesia's Aceh province, a local fishing community said on Thursday, in the latest wave of arrivals to the Southeast Asian country in recent days.

Miftach Tjut Adek, chief of the community, told Reuters that the 96 arrivals, including seven children, were still at the local beach in the eastern part of Aceh on Sumatra island.

"There is no solution yet, they are still at the beach," said Miftach.

About 300 Rohingya came ashore last week in Indonesia's Aceh and North Sumatra provinces. The United Nations' refugee agency UNHCR has called on Indonesia's government to ensure their safety.

UNHCR was providing aid to the Rohingya together with local authorities, a spokesperson in Indonesia said.

Between October and April, when the seas are calmer, many Rohingya Muslims leave Myanmar on rickety boats for Thailand, Muslim-majority Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

The Rohingya leave Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where they are regarded as foreign interlopers from South Asia and are denied citizenship and subjected to abuse.

Over 2,000 Rohingya arrived in Indonesia last year, UNHCR data showed, more than the combined total of arrivals in the previous four years. Some of them faced rejection in Indonesia as locals grew frustrated by the deluge of arrivals.