BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, May 15 (UPI) -- Indonesian rescuers have brought to shore nearly an additional 1,000 political refugees from the waters off the coast, authorities said Friday -- complicating an already complex influx of migrants to the Southeast Asian region.
About 200 migrants were brought to shore Friday after officials believe they leaped from their boats into the Indian Ocean off Banda Aceh. Authorities said the refugees were not cast into the waters against their will, but rather voluntarily jumped in as a new tactic to solicit rescue.
A warship was sent to the area and retrieved the swimmers, officials said.
Earlier, Indonesian officials said more than 750 others were rescued by fishermen when their boat sank in the waters off Banda Aceh. They were brought ashore and given medical treatment.
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Earlier this week, the Indonesian and Malaysian governments announced they would no longer accept refugees within their borders and deport the more than 25,000 who have already been taken in so far this year.
It has been estimated by officials that about 8,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees remain on boats headed for the two nations with hope of attaining political asylum there. The two nations have also said they will not rescue any migrants unless their lives are in danger.
Officials believe that leaping into the Malacca Strait, situated between Malaysia and Indonesia, might be a way fleeing migrants are trying to fit into that new loophole.
Officials said about 2,500 migrants have made it to Indonesia and Malaysia so far this week, with thousands more at sea hoping to do the same. About 600 were turned away in Malaysia Thursday and another boatload tried to gain entry to Thailand, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
The two nations are patrolling the waters off their coastlines with warships and aircraft and said they will turn away any boats containing refugees. Australia has also instituted a similar policy.
The United Nations' refugee agency said this week it is surprised the nations are taking such a hard line stance against political refugees.
"We continue to appeal to countries in the region to share responsibility and avert a humanitarian crisis," a spokesperson said.
Humanitarian agencies have criticized the nations' anti-refugee policies, saying many of those aboard the boats will die if they don't get medical treatment soon.
U.S. officials on Friday encouraged Malaysia and Indonesia not to turn away refugees, and said it hoped to reach an agreement with Thailand to provide shelter for them there, the Guardian reported.
The Rohingyas, from Buddhist-dominated Myanmar, and Bangladeshi refugees are Muslims seeking asylum in the more Muslim-populated Malaysia and Indonesia.
