Jakarta, Dec. 30 (BNA) Indonesia will allow Rohingya people who were in distress at sea off the northern coast of Aceh province in Sumatra to disembark, an official said, Wednesday.
A deputy in the Ministry of Coordination for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Armed Wijaya, said the decision was taken on humanitarian grounds and in view of the emergency situation faced by the boat passengers, German news agency (dpa) reported.
Local fishermen spotted the damaged and leaky boat with about 120 people on board, mostly women, in the waters of Bireuen district in North Aceh on Sunday.
“The boat with the refugees is about now [80 kilometres] off the coast of Berwyn and will be towed to land.”
Wijaya added that in light of the pandemic, the boat passengers will undergo a health check before their data and information is further processed, and they will be provided with food, water and other logistical supplies.
The decision comes after UNHCR and national advocacy groups urged the Indonesian government to allow the safe disembarkation of those stranded on boats.
According to the humanitarian organisations, local fishermen have been providing them with food and water and are on standby around the boat in case of emergency.
Boats carrying groups of Rohingya fleeing atrocities in Myanmar have been stranded for years in Indonesian waters off the coast of Aceh, the westernmost province facing the Indian Ocean and Andaman Sea.
Indonesia is not a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention, but it has been a transit country for asylum seekers seeking resettlement in another country.
There are approximately 14,000 refugees registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Indonesia, and the Rohingya make up about 5 percent of the refugees and more than half of them come from Afghanistan.
MI