Republished April 06, 2018 - 5:33 AM
Original Publication Date April 06, 2018 - 4:36 AM
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - An Indonesian fishing boat has rescued a group of five Muslim Rohingya found in weak condition off westernmost Aceh province after a 20-day voyage that killed five other people, an official said Friday.
The group, including two women and an 8-year-old boy, were brought ashore early Friday and admitted to a hospital in East Aceh District, local search and rescue official Abdul Musafir said
Musafir says the group told officials that five people died during their journey.
"That is their confession, that the bodies of the five were dumped into the sea," Musafir said, adding that it wasn't clear where they travelled from and to where they were heading.
The five were found in their boat at sea Monday.
"We could not yet communicate much with them due to language constraints," Musafir said.
An outbreak of violence that began in 2012 prompted thousands of Muslim Rohingya to flee Myanmar by sea to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Some 300 of them are still being sheltered in Aceh, an Indonesia's predominantly Muslim province.
A fresh crisis last year sent hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fleeing by land to Bangladesh.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, is a strong supporter of the Rohingya cause.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018