Fishermen rescue hundreds of refugees off Indonesia

About 400 refugees have been rescued by local fishermen in the Strait of Malacca, off Indonesia's Aceh province, after their stricken boat was reportedly turned away numerous times from the Thai and Malaysian coasts by authorities.

The rescue occurred hours before the governments of Malaysia and Indonesia issued a statement saying they would "continue to provide humanitarian assistance to those 7,000 irregular migrants still at sea" and offer them temporary shelter, provided they were resettled and repatriated within a year.

Khairul Nova, a search and rescue official, said the rescue took place at 2am local time on Wednesday and those saved included woman and children. Those rescued were taken to Simpang Tiga village, in East Aceh district, he said.

Witnesses in Aceh said that many of the rescued migrants were in tears when they made it to land, with many very sick and weak.