Bangkok : Some 1,000 Rohingyas and Bangladeshi migrants arrived safely in Sumatra, Indonesia, on Friday after receiving help from fishermen, officials reported.
The director of the International Organization for Migration in Bangkok, Jeff Labovitz, told Efe news agency that the Indonesian government has asked the agency for help in assisting the migrants who arrived in two ships on the coast of Aceh.
According to Labovitz, an undetermined number of small boats each with around 20 people on board have also reached Indonesian shores.
The bulk of the migrants are in the town of Langsa, where between 400 and 800 people arrived with the help of local fishermen after their boat capsized near the coast.
“The latest information we have is that the number would be nearer to 800,” Labovitz said, adding that on the second boat were around 60 to 70 more people.
This is the second contingent of migrants to land in Aceh after 582 women and children arrived on Sunday.
They were taken to a reception centre in Paya Bateung, about 12 km to the east of Lhokseumawe in Aceh.
The Indonesian navy on Monday found another boat at sea carrying some 400 migrants, and supplied them with water, food and fuel to help them continue their journey to Malaysia.