LUWING (Indonesia) (AFP) - At a detention center on the coast of Indonesia , some 200 starving and dehydrated Rohingya refugees are trying to recover Tuesday after a harrowing crossing that claimed the lives of 20 people with them.

It was their fourth boat to reach Indonesia in two months, but the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) fears another boat with about 180 people on board may have sank in the Indian Ocean.

The Rohingya refugees, including dozens of women and children, arrived on Monday evening at a beach in the province of Aceh in western Indonesia on a wooden boat about ten meters long. They spent the night on the ground in a mosque.

The boat was carrying 174 members of this persecuted minority in Burma, according to the latest local authorities census.

It was difficult for some to walk, while many were so dehydrated that they required treatment with serum after spending several weeks at sea in the Bay of Bengal.

Medical staff from the International Organization for Migration "treat serious cases of dehydration and malnutrition," Louis Hoffmann, the organization's head of mission in Indonesia, told AFP.

Several refugees, whose testimonies were obtained by AFP, recounted that they spent more than a month at sea after leaving the camps in Bangladesh, which are home to about a million Rohingya.

"Some people died in the boat, about 26 people. We threw their bodies into the sea," said Rasit, who looked tired and spoke some of the local dialect.

"When we left Bangladesh, we had water for seven days and food for ten," Omar Farooq, a 14-year-old boy who speaks English, said. But after a week the boat's engine broke down and the boat ran aground for more than a month.

"Malaysia did not allow us to dock," Omar, who is traveling without his family, added.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, a persecuted minority in Burma whose members are mostly Muslims, fled the atrocities committed against them by the Burmese army, seeking refuge in neighboring Bangladesh in 2017. The military coup in 2021 in Burma ended the hopes of return for those stateless people who live in large refugee camps. .

Every year thousands of them risk their lives on long and dangerous sea voyages on rickety boats, in search of a better life in Malaysia or Indonesia.

Muhammad Tahir, another refugee who speaks a local dialect, said, "Our life is difficult in Bangladesh. We are not allowed to go out and our children are not allowed to be educated."

In December, the United Nations issued an urgent appeal to the countries of the region to help several refugee boats, without food or water, that run aground in the Indian Ocean.

In a tweet, Anne Maiman, UNHCR Representative in Jakarta, extended her “sincere thanks to Indonesia,” praising “one of the rare countries in the region that respects basic humanitarian principles” on refugees.

Over the past two months, some 472 refugees have arrived in Aceh, according to UNHCR statistics.

Refugees who arrived Sunday on another boat carrying 57 passengers told AFP that they had received assistance from the Indonesian and Indian navies.

Refugee Zahid Hussain (18 years old) said, "We sailed for three days, then the engine broke down, and we had nothing left to eat. After 11 days, fishermen provided us with food and we met members of the Indian Navy who helped us reach Indonesian waters."

And he added, "When we reached Indonesian waters, I saw the hills and knew that we would hold on."

The young man, who lost at least five of his voyage companions, confirmed that "God helped us find the Indonesian Navy."

But the United Nations fears that other boats are still adrift at sea.

And if the boat carrying about 180 people is confirmed to have sunk, the year 2022 will be one of the worst years for the Rohingya, with a death toll of more than 400 people lost at sea, according to the UNHCR.