In the past year, nearly 4,500 Rohingya refugees fled from their overcrowded camps in Bangladesh to the Aceh province in Indonesia, hoping to eventually make their way to Malaysia. Tragically, approximately 600 of them lost their lives at sea, while those who survived have faced growing hostility from the local population in the region.
An investigation by La Croix sheds light on the harrowing saga of the Rohingya, starting from the military repression they experienced in 2017 at the hands of the Myanmar army and Buddhist militias. This led to over 740,000 Rohingya seeking refuge in Bangladesh, with Myanmar facing allegations of genocide before the International Court of Justice.
Activist Azool Nambloh from Aceh states, “Fishermen in my village generously welcomed Rohingya who have landed from their boats in recent years. They are our Muslim brothers, victims of the Myanmar dictatorship, with no homeland and searching for peace.” However, in mid-November, over 1,500 Rohingya refugees fled in dilapidated boats from their unstable camps in Bangladesh towards Aceh.
Emily Bogofich of the UN Refugee Agency in Jakarta confirms that approximately 140 Rohingya have been living in Aceh since their arrival in 2023. However, the arrival of 11 boats on different shores in the past six weeks has resulted in concerns among some of Aceh’s inhabitants.
During this time, images emerged from around the world, showing crowds preventing Rohingya boats from landing. Despite this, villagers provided them with food and water before they departed and managed to reach another village on the east coast of Aceh.
Reporter Rifasissa Misanoor in the capital Banda Aceh notes that the upcoming presidential elections in February have inspired some political parties to launch a hate campaign against the Rohingya on social media.
This migration represents the largest movement of Rohingya to Indonesia since 2015, according to the United Nations. Bogofich speaks of extremely vulnerable refugees, including many women and children, who receive humanitarian assistance in various locations where approximately 1,750 people live, nearly half of them under 18 years old.
It is known that some villagers in Aceh are aiding them in boarding small boats to illegally cross the 300-kilometer wide Malacca Strait to reach Malaysia.
The situation in the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps in Bangladesh, where nearly a million Rohingya reside, is dire. Crime rates have sharply risen, and drug smuggling has become prevalent, while Rohingya rebels carry out deadly vendettas in certain camps, resulting in the deaths of dozens of local community leaders.
The investigation reveals that the Rohingya’s tragedy has reached a deadlock. United Nations agencies face severe budgetary constraints, Bangladesh refuses to integrate or organize the Rohingya, and insists on the voluntary repatriation to Myanmar.
A resident of the camp, Slim Allah, who survived the 2017 genocide by the Myanmar army, expresses his desire to return to his home with guarantees of safety and finding his land.
As a result of these dire conditions, the ongoing trend of fleeing by sea continues to escalate, with nearly 600 Rohingya perishing in 2023 in the waters of Southeast Asia. Aceh, once welcoming, has now turned them away.
Slim reflects, “I never wanted to go to the sea; it is too dangerous, but I cannot see how to escape from Cox’s Bazar, and I want to return to Myanmar.”
