Locals protested against Rohingya Muslims in Indonesia

New Delhi. The local people did not allow the Rohingya Muslims trying to enter Indonesia in large numbers to get down from the boat. 140 hungry Rohingya Muslims were trying to land about 1 mile (0.60 km) off the coast of Indonesia’s northern province of Aceh in a wooden boat. Most of them were women and children who were not allowed to land by the local residents.

Local police said that three Rohingyas died during a journey of about two weeks from Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh to the coast of Labuhan Haji in South Aceh district. Authorities admitted 11 Rohingyas to a government hospital since Sunday after their health deteriorated.

‘We don’t want unrest here’
“Our fishermen community did not allow them to land here because we don’t want what happened in other places to happen here. Wherever they went, unrest has been created among the local people,” said Mohammad Jabal, the head of the fishermen’s community in South Aceh. A large banner hanging at the port read: “The people of South Aceh Regency reject the arrival of Rohingya refugees in this region.”

According to the Aceh police report, the group of Rohingya Muslims left Cox’s Bazar on October 9, wanting to go to Malaysia. Some of the passengers on the boat had reportedly paid to go to other countries. Jabal said local residents had given food to the group. Apart from this, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees also provided them with food.

The boat had left from Bangladesh
According to the police, when the boat left Bangladesh, there were 216 people on board and 50 of them allegedly landed in Indonesia’s Riau province. Aceh police have arrested three suspects for alleged people smuggling.

About 10 Muslim Rohingyas live in Bangladesh as refugees from Myanmar. These include about 740,000 people who fled from there after the brutal violence in Myanmar in 2017. Rohingya minorities are facing widespread discrimination in Myanmar and most are not being granted citizenship.

Like Thailand and Malaysia, Indonesia is also not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention of the United Nations and is not obliged to accept them (refugees). However, this country usually provides temporary shelter to refugees in distress.