More than 240 Rohingya refugees afloat off Indonesia after they are twice refused by residents
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/11/2023 (1052 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
ACEH UTARA, Indonesia (AP) — Some 240 Rohingya Muslims, including women and children, are afloat off the coast of Indonesia after two attempts to land were rejected by local residents.
Officials said the boat most recently tried to land in Aceh Utara district, in Indonesia’s Aceh province, on Thursday afternoon, but left a few hours later.
It is the fourth boat to reach Indonesia’s northernmost province since Tuesday. Three others arrived in a different district and were allowed to land.
Residents of the Ulee Madon beach in Muara Batu sub-district said they would not accept the latest group as Rohingya have have come to the area several times and caused discomfort to the residents.
“From a humanitarian perspective, we are concerned, but from another perspective, they are causing commotion. We provided shelter to them, but we also cannot accommodate them,” Saiful Afwadi, a traditional leader at Muara Batu sub-district said on Friday.
Rahmat Karpolo, a head of village, said that the residents do not want to accept the refugees because based on past experience, the Rohingya run away from the shelters.
“So we are worried that the same incident will happen again.” Karpolo said.
More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled from Buddhist-majority Myanmar to refugee camps in Bangladesh after an army-led crackdown in August 2017. They say the camps are overcrowded and they must leave again in search of a better life.
Most of the refugees who left the camps by sea have attempted to reach Malaysia, but many have ended up in Indonesia along the way.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a written statement on Thursday said that Indonesia is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention. Therefore, Indonesia does not have the obligation or capacity to accommodate refugees, let alone to provide a permanent solution for the refugees.
“Accommodation has been provided solely for humanitarian reasons. Ironically, many countries party to the convention actually closed their doors and even implemented a pushback policy toward the refugees,” Lalu Muhamad Iqbl, the Ministry’s spokesperson said in a statement.
He added that Indonesia’s kindness in providing temporary shelter has been widely exploited by people-smugglers who seek financial gain without caring about the high risks faced by refugees, especially vulnerable groups such as women and children.
“In fact, many of them were identified as victims of human trafficking,” Iqbal said.
___
Associated Press writer Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.