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JAKARTA (Reuters) – At least 1,000 Rohingya are stranded at sea as Southeast Asian nations adjust their borders to prevent the new coronavirus, Amnesty International said on Friday, urging measures to be taken to ensure they are not buried in an “invisible graveyard ” at sea.
Human rights groups believe that at least two Rohingya-carrying ships, members of a Muslim minority in Myanmar, are located off the coast of the Indonesian province of Aceh, but authorities said they had no clear information.
Spokesmen for the Indonesian navy’s western fleet, as well as the Aceh disaster mitigation agency and search and rescue team, told Reuters they were trying to confirm the location of the ships.
Refugees from two other ships have landed in Bangladesh since mid-April, many starved and emaciated after weeks at sea. Survivors of one said dozens died on board.
Saad Hammadi of Amnesty International’s Regional Office for South Asia said the refugees could have been sailing for several weeks or even months without food or water, citing information from humanitarian agencies and local reports.
In a virtual press conference, he called on Indonesia and Australia, which are chairing a forum against trafficking and human trafficking known as the Bali Process, to ensure that refugees can safely land “so we don’t see the sea turn in an invisible graveyard. “
Australia’s foreign ministry said it was unable to comment immediately, and a spokesman for the Indonesian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Rohingya have made dangerous trips to Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia for years, fleeing persecution in Myanmar and poverty in refugee camps in Bangladesh.
More than a million live in miserable conditions in sprawling camps in southern Bangladesh, with up to a dozen people sharing a shelter and poor access to soap and water in some areas.
The vast majority fled a 2017 military offensive in Myanmar that the UN has said was carried out with genocidal intent. Myanmar authorities deny the genocide and say it was a legitimate response to attacks by Rohingya militants.
(Reporting by Kate Lamb and Agustinus Beo Da Costa. Written by Poppy McPherson; Edited by Jon Boyle)
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