170 Rohingya refugees land in Indonesia

At least 170 Rohingya refugees including women and children landed in Indonesia's westernmost province on Saturday.

The arrival comes after more than 1,000 Rohingya refugees landed in Aceh last month, the biggest wave of Rohingya refugee arrivals in Indonesia since 2015, according to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR).

More than half a dozen boats have arrived in Aceh since November 14, and monitors say more are on their way, despite some locals turning arriving boats back to sea and stepping up patrols on the coast.

The mostly Muslim Rohingya are heavily persecuted in Myanmar, and thousands risk their lives each year on long and expensive sea journeys, often in flimsy boats, to try to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.