Indonesia: Hundreds of Rohingya refugees arrive in Aceh

The head of a local fishing community reported that nearly 200 Rohingya, the majority of whom were women and children, arrived by boat in Indonesia’s Aceh province on Tuesday. For years, many members of the ethnic Rohingya Muslim minority, who are persecuted in Myanmar, have boarded flimsy wooden boats in an attempt to flee to Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, all of which have a majority Muslim population. A significant number of Rohingya have perished at sea from illness, starvation, and exhaustion since several hundred of them arrived in Aceh earlier this year. According to the UNHCR, last year was among the deadliest for these refugees in a ten-year period. Following a military-led crackdown in Buddhist-majority Myanmar in 2017, nearly a million Rohingya Muslims fled and are currently living in “the biggest humanitarian refugee camp in the world”—Bangladesh, according to U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. The Rohingya were brought to a makeshift shelter close by, where locals gave them food and water, according to Miftah. After consulting with the local government, the refugees were being relocated to Bina Raya, an evacuation site that already existed, according to UNHCR official Faizal Rahman. Images that Miftah posted showed the Rohingya lying on the beach’s sand with the locals surrounding them. (With agency inputs)