Good People Do Good Things

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Good People Do Good Things

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Indonesian villagers defy Covid-19 warnings to rescue Rohingya refugees
Governments across south-east Asia are turning away boats but in Aceh locals took matters into their own hands
Rebecca Ratcliffe and Febriana Firdaus

Fri 26 Jun 2020 17.22 BST
Last modified on Sat 27 Jun 2020 04.50 BST

On Thursday afternoon, residents of Aceh, Indonesia, waded back and forth in water helping Rohingya refugees clamber to safety. Exhausted children were passed between rescuers.

On Lancok beach, where survivors gathered, a man knelt with his head on the sand, thankful to be alive. Another embraced a member of the rescue team tightly.

Local people said they had felt compelled to act. A day earlier, fishermen had spotted a rickety boat packed with almost 100 Rohingya refugees, including dozens of children, stranded at sea.

Residents repeatedly urged the authorities to do something, but they were told the group could not be brought to shore because to do so would risk spreading coronavirus. Worried that people’s lives were in immediate danger, they took matters into their own hands and sailed out with ropes to tether the boat to safety.

“We didn’t worry about getting into problems [with the authorities] because we believe that what we did was the right thing,” said Nasruddin Guechik, who is head of the nearby village of Kampung. When people had seen the refugees, it had been impossible not to act, he said. “Just looking at the refugees, we were crying,”

A total of 94 refugees, including one pregnant woman, were saved. Amnesty International described the rescuers actions as “a moment of optimism and solidarity”.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... a-refugees
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Yerg
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Re: Good People Do Good Things

Post by Yerg »

Finally, a good news story at last!!
samrong01
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Re: Good People Do Good Things

Post by samrong01 »

Yet another example of government hysteria. Does anyone seriously believe that after weeks isolated at sea that somehow they had coronavirus? The same applies to all the seamen stranded at sea all over the world.

I have huge admiration for the villagers who ignored the government nonsense and saved them. There are still people in the world who have humanity instead of a slavish devotion to the rules.
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