Adrift in the sea: the odyssey of a hundred Rohingya ends in Sri Lanka
Rescued by the Sri Lankan Navy, the refugees were crammed onto a fishing boat after more than two weeks at sea, probably blown off course by cyclonic weather. The group also includes 27 women and 49 children, who left camps on the border with Bangladesh where thousands of families have been living since 2017 due to persecution by Myanmar’s military.
Colombo (Asia News) – The Sri Lankan Navy rescued 115 people crammed onto a fishing boat adrift in the Indian Ocean believed to be Rohingya refugees from war-torn Myanmar.
The refugees washed ashore in Mullivaikkal West, transferred to Ashraff Port, Trincomalee from where they were taken to Mirihana.
Temporary accommodations were provided at the Jamaliya Muslim Maha Vidyalaya School on instructions of the Immigration Department.
According to Navy spokesman Gayan Wickramasuriya, fishermen spotted the boat off the northern coast of Sri Lanka last Thursday, and alerted the authorities who then rescued the people on board.
The group includes 39 men, 27 women (one pregnant) and 49 children. Upon arrival in Trincomalee, health checks and blood tests were carried out.
The language barrier made communication difficult. According to the few details available, the group of Rohingya took to the sea after years in camps on the border with Bangladesh.
They left on three boats on 4 December. When two had mechanical problems and failed in their journey, everyone piled into the third.
“Tragically, five people died of starvation, and their bodies were cast into the sea,” rescuers said. “Survivors said that they sold belongings, paying 800,000 Myanmar kyats (US$ 380) per family for the journey."
Eleven people from the group were indicted for people smuggling.
Citing a doctor who examined the refugees, a human rights activist, Ruki Fernando, told AsiaNews that the refugees were hungry and in precarious conditions, but otherwise without serious health problems.
The Navy spokesman said that language difficulties made it hard to understand where these Rohingya intended to go, noting that "recent cyclonic weather" may have pushed them off from their destination in Malaysia or Indonesia.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh in 2017, during a crackdown by the military who are now subject of United Nations genocide court case.
The situation has been further aggravated by the civil war that has been raging in the country for more than three years.
Photo: Sanjeevan Trinco
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