JakartaPost/AFP-Nov 26, 2023
Indonesian police and fishermen said Saturday they have begun patrolling parts of the country’s westernmost province to prevent Rohingya refugees from landing on its shores, after nearly 1,100 members of the persecuted Myanmar minority arrived this month. Thousands from the mostly Muslim minority risk their lives each year making sea journeys from refugee camps in Bangladesh, often in flimsy boats, to try to reach Malaysia or Indonesia. As sailing conditions eased this month, more than half a dozen boats carrying hundreds of Rohingya people from Bangladesh arrived in Aceh province, including some that locals tried to turn back to sea. Police in East Aceh, a regency of more than 350,000 people that saw 36 Rohingya arrive on Sunday, said they have now imposed round-the-clock patrols. The force “has instructed its subordinate police precincts with coastal areas to intensify surveillance, both along the coastline and in the waters of the Malacca Strait, to prevent the entry of Rohingya immigrants”, it said in a statement. More than a million Rohingya have fled Myanmar since the 1990s, most in the wake of a 2017 military crackdown that forced many to settle in camps in Bangladesh. Indonesia is not a signatory to the United Nations refugee convention and says it is not compelled to take in refugees from Myanmar. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2023/11/26/indonesian-police-fishers-start-patrols-to-stop-rohingya-boats.html.
