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Nightmare Ends for Hundreds of Rohingya Refugees Stranded at Sea

Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA - UN agencies are providing medical aid and other assistance to
   a group of nearly 300 Rohingya refugees who have been allowed to
   disembark in Indonesia after being stranded at sea for more than seven
   months.

   Reports say approximately 330 Rohingya refugees embarked on their
   journey in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh early this year. Their odyssey
   finally ended early Monday after surviving a sea journey that lasted
   more than seven months.

   Most of the refugees are women and children. After landing in northern
   Aceh, Indonesia they told aid workers that more than 30 of the
   passengers had died en route. The UN refugee agency reports the
   refugees recounted the desperate conditions aboard their sea vessel and
   their anguish at not knowing when or if they would ever be rescued.

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