Indonesia rescues 20 Muslim Rohingya adrift off Aceh

A boat carrying 20 Rohingya Muslim men landed in Indonesia on Tuesday (4), authorities said.

The men were rescued by Indonesian fishermen after their boat was found adrift off Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh.

Most of the men are aged between 14 and 28, with one of them aged 50.

"They are Rohingya from Myanmar. We asked them where they were heading and they said they were going to Malaysia," Idi Rayeuk district navy commander Razali, who goes by one name, told AFP.

"Maybe it's because of the currents that they've landed here instead."

According to reports, some 300 Rohingya are currently being sheltered in Aceh. Indonesia, a Muslim country, is a strong supporter of the Rohingya cause.

An outbreak of violence in 2012 saw thousands of Rohingyas leaving Myanmar by sea to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Last year, following violence, millions of Rohingyas fled to  Bangladesh.

On Tuesday, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum said that there was compelling evidence that the Burmese military committed ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, and genocide against the Rohingyas.

“Our analysis concludes there is compelling evidence that Burmese authorities have intentionally sought to destroy the Rohingyas people because of their ethnic and religious identity,” Naomi Kikoler, deputy director of the Museum’s Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, was quoted as saying by The Daily Star.

“The Rohingyas victims we work with feel abandoned. The world has turned a blind eye to their persecution - just as it did for victims of the Holocaust,” she said.

“The Burmese military’s campaign against the Rohingyas, especially the attacks of August 2017, have been deliberate, systematic, and widespread,” said Lee Feinstein, a member of the Museum’s governing Council and the Chairman of its Committee on Conscience, which advises the genocide prevention work of the Museum.