A wooden boat carrying dozens of Rohingya Muslim migrants capsizes off Indonesia’s Aceh province

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“The report from local fishermen said a Rohingya boat capsized and they (the refugees) saved themselves by getting onto the hull of the overturned boat. Some other people were carried away by the strong currents,” the statement said.”So far six people have been rescued by the local fisherman, four women and two men.”It did not say if those carried away were feared to have died.The United Nations refugee agency said it was “deeply concerned” about the reports of the incident, saying “tens of Rohingya refugees” were in desperate need of rescue but could not confirm exact numbers.”We hope that search and rescue could be performed and the refugees can be brought to land as soon as possible. This is an emergency,” UNHCR said in a statement.Local police and the regional government did not respond to requests for comment.The incident comes after months of Rohingya arrivals on Indonesian shores.From mid-November to late January, 1,752 refugees — mostly women and children — landed in the Indonesian provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra, according to UNHCR.The agency said it was the biggest influx into the Muslim-majority country since 2015.



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