CALANG, Indonesia — The bodies of three Rohingya refugees were found in the sea as the Indonesian authorities ended a search for survivors from a boat that capsized near Aceh province, the provincial search and rescue agency said Sunday. Fishers and a search and rescue team rescued 75 people from the boat on Thursday — … Read more
BANGKOK — A dramatic story of survival and rescue off the western coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province has put the spotlight again on the plight of ethnic Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar who make extremely dangerous voyages across the Indian Ocean to seek better lives. Desperate survivors were pulled to safety from their capsized boat … Read more
MEULABOH, Indonesia — An Indonesian search and rescue ship on Thursday located a capsized wooden boat that had been carrying dozens of Rohingya Muslim refugees, and began pulling survivors who had been standing on its hull to safety. An AP photographer aboard the rescue ship said 10 people had been taken aboard local fishing boats … Read more
NICOSIA, Cyprus — A court in Cyprus on Saturday ordered two men to remain in police custody for six days on suspicion of people smuggling. The men were identified as the drivers of two boats that brought 146 Syrian refugees and one Lebanese migrant to the east Mediterranean island nation. Police said the suspects are … Read more
NICOSIA, Cyprus — The European Union won’t serve its own best interests if it doesn’t consider designating some parts of Syria as safe zones so refugees and migrants can return there, the president of Cyprus said Monday. President Nikos Christodoulides said Cyprus is working with like-minded EU member nations to start a discussion about that … Read more
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Israeli military says it has discovered tunnels underneath the main headquarters of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza City, alleging that Hamas militants used the space as an electrical supply room. The unveiling of the tunnels marked the latest chapter in Israel’s campaign against the embattled agency, … Read more
BURJ-AL-BARAJNEH, Lebanon — At 84 years old, Amsha Haj Sleiman is blind in one eye and struggles to walk. But she still remembers fleeing as a young girl from her village in historic Palestine. “We walked so much, through the lands,” as Israeli forces advanced some 75 years ago, she recalled this month. “I remember … Read more
NAKIVALE, Uganda — Enock Twagirayesu was seeking sanctuary when he and his family fled violence in Burundi, and they found it in Uganda, the small East African nation that has absorbed thousands of refugees from unsettled neighbors. Twagirayesu’s family has grown from two children when they arrived more than a decade ago to eight now, … Read more
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A group of Rohingya refugees living in Sri Lanka staged a protest outside the office of the U.N. refugee agency Tuesday, saying they fear losing their living allowance once the agency’s office in the island nation closes at the end of this year. The protesters also want to be resettled in … Read more
MEDAN, Indonesia — Nearly 150 Rohingya refugees, mostly hungry and weak women and children, have reached a beach in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province after weeks at sea, officials said Sunday. The group of 53 men, 39 women and 55 children arrived on Karang Gadih beach in Langkat district late Saturday, said the village head, Muhammad … Read more