Indonesian fishermen rescued 68 Rohingya asylum seekers from a boat stranded off the coast of Aceh Jaya, northern Sumatra, on Sunday, according to a report in the Jakarta Globe.
The 68 Rohingya — including a pregnant woman and two babies — told Aceh officials they boarded the boat after being threatened with deportation in Malaysia, the report said.
The asylum seekers reportedly spoke to Indonesian authorities in Malay and said that they had departed from Malaysia four days earlier and were heading to Australia to apply for asylum.
The Rohingya reportedly told a local radio station that they had fled villages in Myanmar’s Rakhine region amid communal violence, and had spent several days in Malaysia before deciding to attempt the voyage to Australia’s Christmas Island.
