3 Rohingya die after being rescued off Indonesia’s Aceh

JAKARTA

Three Rohingya refugees died after being rescued from a beach in Indonesia’s Aceh province earlier this week, said an official on Friday.

“Nur Muslimah, 21, died on Wednesday after a fall in bathroom,” said Marzuki, spokesman for Lhokseumawe city office who goes by only one name.

He said the other refugees, Muhammad Khalel, 22, and Senoara Begum, 19, died from a respiratory illness on Thursday and Friday respectively.

“They all have been tested for coronavirus and the result will come out on Monday,” Marzuk told Anadolu Agency.

Currently, 293 Rohingya Muslims are taking shelter at the Lhokseumawe City Training Center.

Marzuki said all of them have been tested with rapid antigen and no one came out reactive. The refugees will undergo swab tests if the results of the three deceased refugees come out positive, he added.

At least 295 Rohingya were found in a boat on Lhokseumawe Beach in Indonesia’s Aceh province on Monday. The official said they have been sailing from Bangladesh for seven months.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012 in Myanmar's western Rakhine state.

According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017, pushing the number of persecuted people in Bangladesh above 1.2 million.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar's state forces, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).

More than 34,000 Rohingya were also thrown into fires, while over 114,000 others were beaten, said an OIDA report titled Forced Migration of Rohingya: The Untold Experience.

As many as 18,000 Rohingya women and girls were raped by Myanmar's army and police and over 115,000 Rohingya homes burned down while 113,000 others vandalized, it added.

*Writing by Rhany Chairunissa Rufinaldo from Anadolu Agency's Indonesian language services in Jakarta