6 more bodies found off Indonesian coast after Rohingya refugee boat disaster

Six more bodies of Rohingya refugees have been found at sea off Indonesia after a boat with more than 150 people aboard capsized last week, local authorities said Monday.

The bodies of the six women were found off the coast of Aceh province, search and rescue officials said in a statement. Five bodies were found over the weekend.

The United Nations refugee agency confirmed with survivors that the women had been on their boat, staff member Faisal Rahman said.

6 RESCUED AFTER BOAT CARRYING DOZENS OF ROHINGYA MUSLIM MIGRANTS CAPSIZES IN INDONESIA

The agency has said the boat carrying Rohingya Muslims left a refugee camp in Bangladesh but capsized on Wednesday. Fishermen and search and rescue workers rescued 75 people on Thursday after they huddled overnight on the boat’s overturned hull.

Rescuers stand on a boat during the search for the victims of a capsized Rohingya refugee boat, in Aceh Jaya, Indonesia, Sunday, March 24, 2024. The bodies of a number of Rohingya refugees were found in the sea as the Indonesian authorities ended a search for survivors from a boat that capsized near Aceh province, the provincial search and rescue agency said Sunday. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)

U.N. agencies on Friday said at least 70 were feared missing or dead.

About 1 million of the predominately Muslim Rohingya live in Bangladesh as refugees from Burma. They include about 740,000 who fled a brutal counterinsurgency campaign in 2017 by Burma’s security forces, who were accused of committing mass rapes and killings.

The Rohingya minority in Burma faces widespread discrimination. Most are denied citizenship.

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Indonesia, like Thailand and Malaysia, is not a signatory to the United Nations’ 1951 Refugee Convention and is not obligated to accept them. However, the country generally provides temporary shelter to refugees in distress.