A large number of Rohingya Muslims who tried to enter Indonesia were prevented from disembarking by locals. 140 hungry Rohingya Muslims are trying to land on a wooden boat about a mile (0.60 kilometers) off the coast of Indonesia’s northern Aceh province. Most of them were women and children, and local residents did not allow them to disembark.
Three Rohingya died during the nearly two-week journey from Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar to the coast of Rabhan Haj in the southern Aceh region, local police said. Since Sunday, authorities have sent 11 Rohingya to government hospitals as their health deteriorated.
“We don’t want riots here”
“Our fishing community does not allow them to land here because we don’t want what happened elsewhere to happen here. Wherever they go, local people will riot,” said Mohammad Jabbar, head of the fishing community in South Aceh province. yes. “The people of South Aceh Regency reject the arrival of Rohingya refugees in the region,” read a large banner hung at the port. “
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According to Aceh police reports, the group of Rohingya Muslims left Cox’s Bazar for Malaysia on October 9. Some of the passengers on board were said to have paid to travel to other countries. Jabbar said local residents had provided food to the group. In addition to this, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees provided them with food.
The ship departed from Bangladesh
According to police, the boat departed from Bangladesh with 216 people on board, 50 of whom reportedly arrived in the Indonesian province of Aceh, where police have reportedly arrested three people smuggling suspects.
About 10 percent of the Muslim Rohingya live in Bangladesh as refugees from Myanmar. They include some 740,000 people who fled Myanmar after brutal violence in 2017. Myanmar’s Rohingya minority faces widespread discrimination and most are not granted citizenship.
Also read: Why are Rohingyas now fleeing Bangladesh fearing for their lives, and which new countries are they seeking refuge in?
Like Thailand and Malaysia, Indonesia is not a signatory to the United Nations’ 1951 Refugee Convention and is therefore under no obligation to accept them (refugees). However, the country generally provides temporary shelter to refugees in crisis.
