<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Nearly 200 Rohingya refugees, including many women and children, landed in Indonesia’s westernmost province on Tuesday, a local official said, the largest contingent of the persecuted Myanmar minority to arrive in months.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>Thousands of the mostly Muslim Rohingya risk their lives each year on long and expensive sea journeys, often in flimsy boats, to try to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.</div><div><br></div><div>The group of 196 landed Tuesday morning in a remote part of Aceh Province’s Pidie region, local navy commander Andi Susanto said in a statement.</div><div><br></div><div>Some of the new arrivals immediately fled inland, according to Marfian, a spokesperson for the fishing community, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.</div><div><br></div><div>“Ten... immediately fled to the nearby hills. It seems that they were the middlemen that intentionally brought the refugees to the area,” he said.</div><div><br></div><div>The local government gave a lower number of seven who fled.</div><div><br></div><div>The refugees were being assisted by local authorities and residents.</div><div><br></div><div>“Local people have provided food and drink for them as it is their habit of helping stranded Rohingyas,” Marfian said.</div><div><br></div><div>Images shared with AFP showed tired-looking refugees, including women holding babies in their arms, waiting on the beachside for help.</div><div><br></div><div>More than 2,000 Rohingya are believed to have attempted the risky journey to Southeast Asian countries in 2022, according to the UN refugee agency.</div><div><br></div><div>Nearly 200 Rohingya died or went missing last year while attempting hazardous sea crossings, the agency has estimated.</div><div><br></div><div>In March, 184 Rohingya refugees arrived in the eastern Aceh town of Peureulak after they were dropped at sea by boat and made to swim ashore. According to AFP reports&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>