Reversal News Desk,
The Sri Lankan Navy has rescued 102 Rohingya refugees who were stranded in a fishing trawler in the Indian Ocean from Myanmar and brought them safely to port.
A Sri Lankan navy spokesman said on Friday (December 20) that the Rohingya group brought to the eastern port of Trincomalee included 25 children. All the refugees have been provided with food and water.
He said they will undergo health checks before being disembarked from the trawler.
The mostly Muslim Rohingya are widely persecuted in Myanmar. Thousands of them risk their lives every year on the long sea journey. Most now head for southeast Malaysia or Indonesia.
A Sri Lankan navy spokesman said it was difficult to determine where the refugees were going because they did not understand their language. It appears that the strong winds of the recent cyclone may have pushed them this far.
Millions of Rohingya fled Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh during a 2017 military campaign, which is now the subject of an international court case for ethnic genocide.
Myanmar’s military seized power in a coup in 2021 and has since forced millions to flee the war-torn country.
Last month, the United Nations warned Myanmar’s Rakhine state that the Rohingya’s historic homeland was heading towards famine. The atrocities of the war have paralyzed the state’s trade and agricultural production.
