Around 200 Rohingya refugees have arrived by sea in Indonesia’s westernmost province of Aceh, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Wednesday (November 21), bringing to more by 1,000 the number of Rohingya who arrived in the country during the week.
“The mayor informed us of the disembarkation of 200 people. A team will leave for Sabang in the morning,” said Faisal Rahman, UNHCR spokesperson. Local community members said the number could be higher, with estimates of up to 360 refugees disembarking, Rahman said.
Thousands of Rohingya, a Muslim minority persecuted in Burma, undertake long and costly sea journeys every year, risking their lives aboard makeshift boats in an attempt to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.
“Rejection Virus”
Last week, Aceh residents turned away several boats from Bangladesh, saying they could not afford to accommodate the refugees.
Rahman said the agency had asked the mayor of Sabang to find shelter for these refugees. “The situation on the ground is not good. The virus of rejection has spread to the entire population,” he stressed. “There’s a good chance they’ll try to push them back out to sea, but let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”
Many Aceh residents, who themselves have endured decades of bloody conflict, have long been sensitive to the plight of this Muslim minority. But some now complain that the arrival of Rohingya is consuming their limited resources and sometimes coming into conflict with the local population.
According to the UNHCR, more than 2,000 Rohingya attempted the difficult crossing to Indonesia or Malaysia in 2022, among whom 200 died or were missing.
Bangladesh is home to around a million members of this stateless Muslim minority, some 750,000 of whom fled Burma in 2017.