Indonesia rejects Rohingya Muslims

BIREUN, Indonesia: Dozens of Rohingya refugees intercepted after their boat ran into trouble off the coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province were being sent into Malaysian waters, authorities said on Tuesday.

At least 100 mostly women and children aboard a wooden vessel said to be taking on water were denied refuge in Indonesia and instead pushed into the neighbouring Southeast Asian country.

Despite calls from non-governmental organisations and the United Nations agency for refugees, Indonesian authorities are attempting to send the group back after providing supplies, clothes and fuel, as well as a technician to fix their damaged boat.

"We hope (the supplies) can help the Rohingyas to continue their journey to Malaysia as they planned and intended," Winardy, an Aceh police spokesman who, like many Indonesians, goes by only one name, told AFP.

"We will monitor them until they reach their destination," he said.

The wooden boat was first sighted two days ago, stranded about 70 nautical miles off the Indonesian coast, according to a local navy commander.

Indonesian authorities have not pushed back Rohingya refugees as strongly as Malaysia or Thailand, instead reluctantly accepting them upon arrival by sea.