Dozens of Rohingya refugees - including women and children - arrived on the coast of Indonesia on a wooden boat, and some of them told stories of hunger and despair during their journey, which took more than a month, to flee the coasts near Myanmar's border with Bangladesh.

According to human rights sources, 185 Rohingya refugees arrived yesterday evening, Monday, on the coasts of Bidi district in the Indonesian province of Aceh, on a boat that sailed about a month ago, hours after the arrival of 57 refugees to the western coasts of Indonesia.

Shafiq Rahman - one of the survivors - said that 200 sailed on a small boat from Bangladesh in an attempt to reach Indonesia, and 26 of them died at sea.

"We sailed for 40 days, and the food supply dwindled after 10 days, and soon the rickety boat leaked," Rahman added.

Refugee Samosa Katun said that she came to Indonesia to escape destitution and find a job, as refugee Muhammad Tahir said, "Our life is difficult in Bangladesh. We do not have the right to go out, and our children do not have the right to learn."

In turn, refugee Zahid Hussain (18 years old) said, "We sailed for 3 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 the young man - who lost at least 5 of his voyage companions - added, "God helped us find the Indonesian Navy."

As for the boy Omar Farouk (14 years old), he said that the boat was carrying enough water for 7 days and food for 10 days only, but the boat's engine broke down after a week and the boat started drifting for more than a month.

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

Refugees wait in a shelter in Bidi district in Aceh province (Reuters)

The refugees were taken to a temporary shelter in Biddy district, where dozens of them received urgent medical care for their suffering from dehydration and fatigue.

A boat with 180 people on board is believed to have sank in early December, with all those on board presumed dead, according to rights groups.

At the beginning of the same month, the United Nations made an urgent appeal to the countries of the region to help several refugee boats as they run aground in the Indian Ocean.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said on Monday that 2022 could be the year with the most Rohingya casualties at sea in nearly a decade.

In a tweet on Twitter, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Jakarta, Ann Maiman, directed "sincere thanks to Indonesia," praising "one of the rare countries in the region that respects basic humanitarian principles" regarding refugees, as it received the province of Aceh during October and November. The last two are 472 refugees.

Rohingya trying to cross into Thailand, as well as Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia, often set sail between November and April, when the seas are calm.