Rohingya Refugees Detained In Migration Attempt To Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia faces a new refugee crisis as Rohingya refugees have been arriving in the country in boats. Rohingya refugees have been risking their lives by making the sea journey from refugee camps in Bangladesh to Indonesia. 

Last week, around 1000 Rohingya people arrived in Indonesia via three boats. The first boat carried 146 passengers, while the second boat carried 194 passengers. 

Mitra Salima Suryono, a spokesperson for the U.N. refugee agency in Indonesia, said that there were not any particular reasons for the big number of Rohingya refugees arriving in Indonesia. 

Rohingya refugees detained

Recently, Bangladesh police officers detained 58 Rohingya refugees, who were trying to start a sea journey to Indonesia. 

Bangladesh is home to 1 million Rohingya refugees, who fled a violent crackdown by the Myanmar military in 2017. Many Rohingya refugees face problems in Bangladesh. They live in the Bangladeshi border district of Cox’s Bazar. 

Mitra Salima Suryono, a spokesperson for the U.N. refugee agency in Indonesia, said, “The reason why they migrated is to find a safer life.”

In Myanmar, they were denied citizenship and subjected to abuse. 

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Rohingya refugees in Indonesia

More than 1,000 desperate and exhausted Rohingya refugees have landed on the shores of Aceh province in Indonesia. However, they were rejected by locals who threatened to put them back to sea. 

Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry has said it “has no obligation nor capacity to accommodate refugees, let alone to provide a permanent solution.”

A 15-year-old Rohingya refugee Abdul Rahman said, “We don’t want to go back.”

Usman Hamid, the director of rights group Amnesty International Indonesia, urged the authorities to take in the Rohingya refugees. Usman Hamid also urged authorities to talk to neighboring countries Malaysia and Thailand about the migrant crisis.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, a United Nations agency, said that the Indonesian authorities agreed to move migrants to a temporary shelter at an old immigration building in one of Aceh’s biggest cities. 

The ongoing humanitarian crisis requires a global response.