Over 180 Rohingya refugees land in Indonesia

Jakarta, Mar 27 (EFE).- Some 184 Rohingya refugees, including 70 women and 20 children, reached the shores of Indonesia’s Aceh province on Monday.

The refugees are the latest members of the mostly Muslim minority group to have made the dangerous journey from Myanmar – where they have been victims of a years-long persecution by that country’s military authorities – and Bangladesh, where many had been living in camps after fleeing neighboring Myanmar.

A coordinator of the Geutanyoe Foundation told EFE that the Rohingya landed at a beach in the village of Matang Peulawi, in east Aceh, on Monday morning, where they were being temporarily sheltered at the local mosque.

“The Geutanyoe Foundation is waiting for the government’s decision to find them accommodation,” Nasruddin, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, added.

Authorities have not confirmed whether the migrants arrived on one boat or several, or whether they left from Myanmar or Bangladesh, where almost a million Rohingya live in deplorable conditions in sprawling refugee camps.

In 2022, nearly 3,500 Rohingya people risked their lives on the dangerous shipping lanes in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, with at least 348 killed or missing on those voyages, according to UNHCR.

In August 2017, the Myanmar army launched a brutal crackdown against the Rohingya that led to the exodus of more than 720,000 people. Myanmar is facing charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Fleeing the sprawling camps in Bangladesh, many Rohingya risk their lives on perilous sea crossings to Malaysia or Indonesia, with refugees paying between $1,500-$2,500 to make the journeys.EFE

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