By Shoon Naing, Poppy McPherson and Devjyot Ghoshal BANGKOK (Reuters) -A drone attack on Rohingya fleeing Myanmar killed many dozens of people, including families with children, several witnesses said, describing survivors wandering between piles of bodies to identify dead and injured relatives. Four witnesses, activists and a diplomat described drone attacks on Monday that struck down families waiting to cross the border into neighbouring Bangladesh. A heavily pregnant woman and her 2-year-old daughter were among […]
Tag: Rohingya
Two Rohingya found dead at sea after Indonesia ends survivor search
ACEH JAYA, Indonesia, March 23, 2024 (AFP) – The bodies of two Rohingya refugees were retrieved and several more were spotted at sea Saturday, local rescuers said, days after a wooden boat believed to be carrying around 150 people capsized, leaving many missing or dead. The mostly Muslim ethnic Rohingya are heavily persecuted in Myanmar, and thousands risk their lives each year on long and expensive sea journeys, often in flimsy boats, to try to […]
Rescuers end sea search for Rohingya refugees
By Zahlul Akbar MEULABOH, Indonesia, March 22, 2024 (AFP) – Indonesian rescuers called off the search for Rohingya refugees missing at sea after their boat capsized, despite reports from some of the survivors that dozens of people were swept away. Friday’s announcement comes a day after authorities staged a dramatic rescue of 69 Rohingya who had been adrift at sea for weeks before the boat capsized, with many found clinging to the hull of the […]
Living in extraordinary times! ASEAN in Focus – March 21, 2024
Another Rohingya refugee boat lands in Indonesia: UN official
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, Feb 1, 2024 (AFP) – A boat believed to be carrying over 100 Rohingya refugees landed in Indonesia’s westernmost province on Thursday, a UN official said, part of the biggest influx into the Muslim-majority country since 2015. The mostly Muslim Rohingya are heavily persecuted in Myanmar, and thousands risk their lives each year on long and expensive sea journeys, often in flimsy boats, to try to reach Malaysia or Indonesia. UN Refugee […]
UN urges rescue of 185 Rohingya adrift in Indian Ocean
GENEVA, Dec 23, 2023 (AFP) – The United Nations called Saturday for the urgent rescue of 185 people, mainly women and children, on a distressed boat last heard to be near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean. Around 70 of those onboard are children and 88 are women, the UNHCR refugee agency said in a statement. “At least a dozen are feared to be in critical condition with one individual reported to […]
Nearly 200 Rohingya stranded on Indonesia beach: AFP
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, Dec 10, 2023 (AFP) – Nearly 200 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, were stranded on a beach in western Indonesia Sunday after local authorities said they would not accept the new arrivals, AFP witnessed. The refugees arrived by boat at 3:00 am local time (2000 GMT Saturday), the latest in what has been the largest influx of the persecuted Myanmar minority since 2015. The mostly Muslim Rohingya were the target of […]
Indonesia’s Widodo cites traffickers for Rohingya refugee influx
JAKARTA, Dec 8, 2023 (AFP) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo said Friday his government suspects a human trafficking network is behind the rising number of Rohingya refugees reaching his country by boat. The mostly Muslim Rohingya face heavy persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar — including a 2017 crackdown that is subject to a UN genocide probe — and many have fled over the border to camps in neighbouring Bangladesh. From there, thousands risk their lives each […]
4 Rohingya killed in Bangladesh refugee camp shootout
COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh, Dec 6, 2023 (AFP) – Four Rohingya refugees were killed during a gunfight between two insurgent groups in Bangladesh, police said Wednesday, in the latest sign of deteriorating security in the country’s overcrowded relief camps. Bangladesh is home to around a million members of the stateless and mainly Muslim minority, most of whom fled a 2017 military crackdown in Myanmar that is now subject to a UN genocide probe. The dozens of […]
Over 100 Rohingya refugees land in Indonesia, 2 more boats at sea
By Chaideer Mahyuddin SABANG, Indonesia, Dec 2, 2023 (AFP) – More than 100 Rohingya refugees, including women and children, landed in Indonesia’s westernmost province on Saturday, officials said, but locals threatened to push them back to sea. Hundreds more of the mostly Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar were trapped on board another two unseaworthy vessels adrift in the Andaman Sea, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). The latest arrival comes after more than 1,000 […]
Indonesian police, fishers start patrols to stop Rohingya boats
LHOKSEUMAWE, Indonesia, Nov 25, 2023 (AFP) – Indonesian police and fishermen said Saturday they have begun patrolling parts of the country’s westernmost province to prevent Rohingya refugees from landing on its shores, after nearly 1,100 members of the persecuted Myanmar minority arrived this month. Thousands from the mostly Muslim minority risk their lives each year making sea journeys from refugee camps in Bangladesh, often in flimsy boats, to try to reach Malaysia or Indonesia. As […]
Indonesia moves rejected Rohingya refugees stranded on beach
By Chaideer Mahyuddin with Marchio Gorbiano in Jakarta SABANG, Indonesia, Nov 22, 2023 (AFP) – More than 200 Rohingya refugees were relocated from the beaches of a remote Indonesian island Wednesday after weeks adrift on a wooden boat, as authorities rejected locals’ efforts to push the members of the persecuted Myanmar minority back to sea. The latest arrivals brought to more than 1,000 the number of desperate and exhausted Rohingya who have landed on the […]





