Sharjah24 – AFP: A boat filled with dozens of Rohingya, mostly women and children, landed off the Indonesian coast Friday after a months-long journey that claimed the lives of nine refugees, according to a survivor.
It was the latest in a wave of arrivals, with nearly 400 members of the persecuted Muslim minority landing by boat in Indonesia last year after perilous journeys from cramped refugee camps in Bangladesh -- next to their native Myanmar.
On Friday, about 80 Rohingya landed their vessel on tiny Pulau Idaman, a small island just off the coast of northern Sumatra.
Muhammad Ilyas, a 37-year-old refugee, said the group beached their boat on the island because it was damaged.
The group was hoping to land in neighbouring Malaysia, where more than 100,000 Rohingya live on the margins of society, registered as refugees but not allowed to work, forcing them into illegal construction and other low-paid jobs.
"It has taken four months to get here," he said.
"There are 81 of us from 90 before. Nine died."
The victims perished from lack of food and water, he said, adding that the boat had earlier been picked up by Indian authorities who repaired the vessel and then sent it back to sea.
The deaths could not be independently confirmed.
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