Latest News
Rohingya boat capsizes off coast of Indonesia – at least 50 feared dead
Dozens of Rohingya refugees are feared to have drowned after a wooden boat with an estimated 150 people on board capsized off the coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province.
The boat is thought to have run into trouble some 19km (12 miles) from the beach of Kuala Bubon on the west coast of Aceh after it hit rough seas on Wednesday morning.
Six people – four women and two men – were rescued from the boat by Acehnese fishermen and taken to a shelter, where they were able to speak to Faisal Rahman, a representative from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). Rahman said the survivors’ testimony suggested many had drowned. “We can’t confirm the exact number of casualties, but according to information from the six who were rescued, there are many dead,” he told Al Jazeera. “They assume about 50 people died when the boat capsized.”
It is thought that most of those presumed to have died were women and children who were unable to swim, and carried out to sea by the currents. Amateur footage shot by local fishermen at the scene, which has been widely shared on Indonesian social media, showed survivors standing on the upturned hull. They all appeared to be male.
Emaciated and dressed in shorts, they waved at the fishermen and begged to be rescued.
Amiruddin, a fishing community leader in the Aceh Barat district where Kuala Bubon is located, said a search and rescue boat from Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency had been dispatched on Wednesday.
“Last night, the National Search and Rescue Agency travelled to the location but there has been no news so far as to whether they have found the Rohingya boat or not,” he said.
It is unclear why the boat sank, although wooden boats carrying refugees from the refugee camps in Bangladesh are often in poor condition and overcrowded, with only basic facilities on board.
In August 2023, 17 Rohingya refugees died when their boat sank in the Bay of Bengal.
UNHCR’s Rahman said the search for the Rohingya boat was continuing.
“The search last night did not yield any results, and the Search and Rescue Agency will continue the search this morning,” he told Al Jazeera. “Last night, they were unable to find their exact location.”
However, Azharul Husna, the coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS Aceh) questioned why a rescue boat needed to be sent from Banda Aceh, some 223km (138 miles) away from Kuala Bubon, when the rescue agency had other boats in the vicinity.
Husna said rescuing the refugees as soon as possible was crucial and that it was the responsibility of the Indonesian authorities.
“Humanity cannot wait and this is a life or death situation,” she said. “According to the Indonesian presidential decree of 2016, refugees who are found at sea have to be rescued. We hope this rescue is carried out immediately out of respect for human rights.” She also added that residents of Kuala Bubon had gone to the town’s port overnight, and called for the refugees to be refused the right to land.
Some held banners calling for a “boycott” of the Rohingya, who are fleeing decades of persecution in their native Myanmar that exploded into a brutal military crackdown in western Rakhine state in 2017.
Some one million Rohingya have been living in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh ever since, while the situation in Myanmar has deteriorated further since the February 2021 military coup, prompting many refugees to seek safety elsewhere.
In recent years, however, people in Aceh have become increasingly resistant to the Rohingya who are usually trying to reach Malaysia, which had 108,500 registered Rohingya refugees at the end of February, according to the UNHCR.
In December last year, the Indonesian navy pushed back a boat carrying Rohingya refugees as it approached the coast of Aceh, amid resentment among residents at a perceived sudden increase in boat arrivals.
Also in December, a mob of students stormed the basement of a local community hall in Banda Aceh where about 137 Rohingya were taking shelter, and called for the group to be deported.
Indonesia is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees but was once considered to be more sympathetic to the Rohingya, compared with other countries in the region such as Malaysia or Thailand, where authorities have prevented boats from landing in previous years.
However, in recent years, this sympathy appears to have evaporated, with some Acehnese residents claiming, with little evidence, that the Rohingya receive more resources from aid agencies than residents and engage in criminal activity while in Indonesia. Similar claims have been made by some in Malaysia, also without evidence.
(Aljazeera)
Latest News
Showerss above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central and North-western provinces and in Galle and Matara Districts
WEATHER FORECAST FOR 24 SEPTEMBER 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 24 September 2026 by the Department of Meteorology
The Deep Depression over the West-central and adjoining Northwest Bay of Bengal is moving west-northwestwards and is currently crossing the North Andhra Pradesh and adjoining South Odisha coasts of India.
Although this system will not have a direct impact on Sri Lanka, the prevailing rainy conditions in the southwestern part of the island are expected to continue due to the wind flow towards the system.
Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central and North-western provinces and in Galle and Matara Districts. Heavy showerss above 100 mm are likely at some places in the above areas.
A few showers will occur in North-central province and in Mannar district.
Strong winds of about (40-50) kmph can be expected at times over the Western slopes of the Central hills, the North-central and North-western provinces and in Trincomalee, Hambantota and Matale Districts.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
North Korean weightlifter Ri Song Gum has broken three world records en route to winning gold in the women’s 49kg (108lbs) competition, which saw India’s Mirabai Chanu win an elusive Asian Games medal by finishing second.
Ri gave North Korea its first gold of the games in Nagoya, Japan, on Wednesday, joining an elite club of four weightlifters who have won three Asian Games gold medals.
The 28-year-old hauled 94kg above her head in the opening snatch discipline – the first official segment of the competition where athletes lift a barbell from the floor to an overhead position in a single motion. The lift was 1kg heavier than the previous world record of 93kg.
Ri followed it up by breaking the world record twice in the 115kg clean and jerk – a two-part movement where a barbell is lifted from the floor to the shoulders and then pushed overhead. The 4ft-7in (139.7cm) weightlifter hoisted 116kg and 121kg above her head.
Ri’s total lift of 215kg obliterated the old world record total by 7kg.
She is the fourth lifter, and first woman, to win three Asian Games weightlifting golds and joined Iran’s Mohammad Nassiri (1966-74), South Korea’s Kim Tae-hyun (1990-98) and Iran’s Behdad Salimi (2010-18), who all won three gold medals. No athlete has won four weightlifting gold medals.
In the same category, India’s Chanu finally won an Asian Games medal at the third time of asking. She won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
The 32-year-old is India’s most decorated weightlifter, with three Commonwealth gold medals and a silver to her name, along with multiple global titles.
She lifted a total of 198kg after a snatch of 87kg and a clean and jerk of 111kg, while Indonesia’s Diana Tri Wijayana took bronze with a total of 191kg, comprising 88kg and 103kg.
Chanu’s silver also ended India’s 28-year wait for a weightlifting medal at the games since Karnam Malleswari won silver in 1998.
(Aljazeera)
United States President Donald Trump has welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping as he arrived in the US for a three-day trip focused on issues such as security, trade and technology.
Trump took the rare step of meeting the Chinese leader in person at Joint Base Andrews in the state of Maryland on Wednesday, the first president to do so in recent memory.
The US president and First Lady Melania Trump greeted Xi and his wife on the tarmac during a welcoming ceremony, where a red carpet was rolled out and the couples exchanged handshakes. Trump and Xi then walked side by side, flanked by US soldiers, before standing for a gunfire salute and the US national anthem
The in-person greeting is a sign of the significance that Washington ascribes to its relationship with Beijing, whose meteoric economic rise over the last several decades has transformed it into a global superpower capable of rivalling the United States.
Despite tense relations that worsened after the Trump administration placed high tariffs on Chinese goods – a move that was met with retaliatory measures from Beijing – Trump has expressed personal affinity for Xi and his desire for strong ties with China.
The Chinese president’s trip to the US will include a state dinner, attended by leaders of the country’s powerful tech industry, a military ceremony at the White House, and a visit to the National Archives, home to documents of historical and cultural significance such as the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence
But both countries remain wary of the other as they compete for political and economic influence. The trip is likely to include discussion of issues such as the US war on Iran, trade, technology, rare-earth minerals and US ties to Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as part of its territory
(Aljazeera)
Showerss above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central and North-western provinces and in Galle and Matara Districts
Mirabai Chanu wins Asian Games silver as Ri breaks weightlifting record
Trump greets China’s Xi Jinping on arrival for three-day US
BASL calls for conscience vote on 22nd Amendment
IMF: Sri Lanka on course for 2027 market return
President appoints three new judges to High Court
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
News5 days agoShanakiyan urges urgent action over reported death sentence for Lankan in Saudi Arabia
-
News6 days agoBid for Basil’s extradition nears final stage: Police
-
News4 days agoNamal Rajapaksa Buddhist gambit fails, bail denied
-
Features4 days agoWhy the spelling Sri Lankan names in English vary
-
Features4 days agoThree bands, a new identity: Sri Lankan wolf snake recognised as distinct species
-
Business4 days agoSLIIT holds largest-ever convocation
-
News4 days agoGovt monitors reported Saudi death sentence – Foreign Ministry
-
Business4 days agoAll-new Bolero MaXX Pik-Up unveiled in Lanka