Hundreds Of Rohingya Refugees Land In Indonesia After Sea Adventure (Worthy News In-Depth)
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
ACEH, INDONESIA (Worthy News) – Hundreds of persecuted Rohingya refugees originally from Myanmar, including women and children, have been allowed to disembark in western Indonesia’s Aceh province after weeks at sea, Worthy News learned Monday.
Up to 525 Rohingya came in three smuggling boats, including one with 249 aboard, which was forced back to sea twice since November 16, officials said.
Footage seen by Worthy News had shown locals pushing away the overcrowded, troubled boat packed with exhausted refugees.
Residents of two villages along Aceh’s coast forced back the boat on Thursday after two other boatloads of Rohingya had landed in the region on November 13 and November 14.
Locals in neighbouring Ulee Madon and Cot Trueng villages said they gave the refugees supplies, including food, clothing and gasoline, before turning their boat back to sea on Thursday.
In an effort to encourage their departure, locals also repaired the boat after Rohingyas on board allegedly tried to sink it.
A village leader from Ulee Madon said residents did not have the resources to accommodate more refugees, adding that Rohingyas had disappeared from temporary shelters provided in the past.
NO PROPER PLACE?
“We don’t have any proper place to house them. From experience, these people are unruly,” Rahmat Kartolo told media. “It’s not that we don’t care about humanity, but these people sometimes run away.”
Police told journalists that locals complained about “bad behavior” shown by some among the 1,000-odd Rohingya who were already sheltering in Aceh.
Yet the eventual safe arrival of the boat on Sunday came as a relief to aid workers who feared the refugees may have drowned.
Usman Hamid, executive director of human rights group Amnesty International’s branch in Indonesia, called it irresponsible for locals to force the Rohingya on that one boat to return to potential perils out on the open sea.
“This reflects a major decline in Indonesian civility. Even though the locals previously showed generosity and humanity towards Rohingya refugees,” Usman Hamid said in a statement issued before the boat with 249 people aboard was allowed to land.
Although Indonesia is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it “has an obligation to help them. The policy of returning them to their country of origin clearly violates the non-refoulement principle, a basic pillar of the life of civilized nations,” Usman added.
Concerns rose after a naval commander in Aceh’s Lhoksemauwe city said the boat was spotted “this morning” and “looks similar” to the one turned back on Thursday, adding that it was heading east.
BEYOND THE HORIZON
However, “At the moment (the boat) is not visible. Maybe it’s beyond the horizon,” Andi Susanto said at the time, raising confusion about the overcrowded vessel’s whereabouts.
Yet amid mounting pressure, the boat and two other ships could land in three different locations in Aceh, including “Bireuen, Pidie and East Aceh, with around 500 people,” said Mitra Salima Suryono, a spokesperson for the United Nations agency UNHCR in Indonesia.
The landings brought to 866 the total number of Rohingya who disembarked in Aceh aboard five people-smuggling boats since last Monday, authorities explained.
The three boats that arrived Sunday spent between a month to two months on the open water after setting sail from Cox’s Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh, according to officials familiar with the situation.
The Cox’s Bazar is home to sprawling camps that house about 1 million stateless Rohingya Muslim refugees from the nearby Rakhine in Myanmar, also known as Burma.
Many are reportedly seeking to escape what the UNHCR has described as the world’s largest refugee camp.
More than 2,000 Rohingya are believed to have attempted journeys to Southeast Asian countries in 2022, the UNHCR said.
DEADLIEST YEAR
Last year was also the deadliest since 2014 for Rohingya attempting such sea voyages, according to the United Nations. At least 348 individuals died or went missing at sea, the UNHCR reported in January.
In January 2023, Jakarta called for region-wide cooperation to conduct rescue operations for Rohingya stranded at sea.
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation, said it doesn’t want to bear the “disproportionately” burden of caring for the refugees, although they share the same religion as most Indonesians.
Refugees who arrive in Indonesia are usually confined to temporary shelters or detention centers and face an uncertain future. Indonesia does not grant them legal status or asylum, meaning they cannot access formal education and jobs.
Human rights groups have said that the number of Rohingya leaving for third countries highlights the dire conditions at the refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh and the deteriorating situation in post-coup Myanmar.
Many Rohingya have grown desperate because they see no hope of being repatriated to Myanmar, which has faced violence following the February 2021 coup by the Burmese military, rights advocates say.
Before a reported “Rohingya genocide” in 2017, about 1.4 million Rohingya lived in Myanmar, but most of them have fled.
MOST PERSECUTED MINORITY
Seen as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world outside Christians, the Rohingya are denied citizenship under the 1982 Myanmar nationality law.
However, their desperation has contributed to a multimillion-dollar, constantly evolving people-smuggling operation stretching from the massive refugee camp in Bangladesh to Indonesia and Malaysia.
Members of the stateless Rohingya community play a crucial role in trafficking their own people, according to investigators.
“The sailing season has started, and many refugees try to leave the camps in Bangladesh where they face precariousness, overcrowding, insecurity, lawlessness and now also food rations cuts,” said Chris Lewa, the director of the Arakan Project, a Thailand-based human rights group that advocates for rights for the stateless Rohingya people.
He told BenarNews, an affiliate of Radio Free Asia, that “We know of one more boat still at sea, maybe more. Surely more will be planning to leave” as the Rohingya desperately try to seek a better future.
If you are interested in articles produced by Worthy News, please check out our FREE sydication service available to churches or online Christian ministries. To find out more, visit Worthy Plugins.