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December 28, 2022

185 Rohingya Refugees Arrive in Indonesia After Being Adrift at Sea Since Late November
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In Indonesia, at least 185 Rohingya refugees reached western Aceh
province Monday after their overcrowded wooden boat was adrift on the
Andaman Sea for over a month without a working engine. Survivors said at
least 26 refugees died at sea. The surviving passengers, including
children, nearly starved, with many so malnourished and dehydrated they
could barely walk. This is Shafiq Rahman, a Rohingya refugee, speaking
from a makeshift shelter in Indonesia.

Shafiq Rahman: "From Myanmar, we became refugees in Bangladesh. We
cannot read Bengali. We were provided assistance from Bangladesh, and we
came to Indonesia in a boat to make our lives better."

Just a day earlier, on Christmas, another boat carrying over 50 Rohingya
refugees came ashore in Indonesia. The U.N. says the number of Rohingya
refugees undertaking the dangerous trek by boat to Indonesia and other
destinations in the region had increased sixfold in 2022. It's estimated
over 1 million Rohingya Muslims have fled persecution in Burma since
2017.


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