VILLAGERS in Indonesia’s Aceh province have discovered a stranded boat carrying 81 Rohingya who had left a refugee camp in Bangladesh, officials said today.

Miftach Cut Adek, the leader of the local tribal fishing community, said that 90 people were on board the boat when it left the refugee camp on February 11 but that nine had died during the trip.

More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled from Myanmar to camps in Bangladesh since August 2017, when the military launched a clearance operation in response to attacks by a rebel group.

Myanmar security forces have since been accused of mass rapes, killings and the burning of thousands of homes.

Groups of Rohingya have attempted to leave the crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh and travel by sea to other Muslim-majority countries in the region, risking their lives in the process.

M Ilyas, a Rohingya on the stranded boat, said they had initially headed to Malaysia but were refused entry because of concerns over coronavirus.

He said that their engine broke down in Indian waters and that local fishermen there helped them continue their trip.

But the engine broke down again and the boat, carrying mostly women and children, ran aground in Indonesia’s northernmost province.

Myanmar has denied citizenship to most Rohingya since 1982, effectively rendering the mostly Muslim ethnic minority group stateless. Rohingya are also denied freedom of movement and other rights including education.

Authorities in Myanmar see the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, even though many of their families have lived in Myanmar for decades.

In September almost 300 Rohingya were found on Ujong Blang beach in Aceh province after months at sea.