Nearly 300 Rohingya were stranded on a beach in western Indonesia on Sunday where they disembarked overnight, an AFP journalist noted, as the archipelago has faced a massive influx of these refugees since November.
Since mid-November, more than 1,000 members of this Muslim minority persecuted in Burma have fled their camps in Bangladesh to reach Aceh province by sea, in what the United Nations refugee agency says is the largest Rohingya migration toward Indonesia since 2015 (UNHCR).
According to local authorities, this latest group, made up mostly of women and children, landed in the Pidie region of Acech province at around 3 a.m. on Sunday.
“They will stay where they landed. This time the government will not cover any costs,” Muslim, the head of the Pidie Social Agency, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP.
Unlike previous arrivals, local authorities would not take responsibility for providing tents for refugees or meeting other needs, he added, specifying that there was “no more space” for shelter. Emergency.
On Sunday morning, the refugees gathered on the beach, mothers holding their partially naked children in their arms, an AFP journalist on site said.
Every year, thousands of Rohingya risk their lives on dangerous and costly sea journeys on often poor-condition boats to reach Indonesia or Malaysia.
Bangladesh is hosting around a million of these Rohingya who have fled Burma, a predominantly Buddhist country, mostly in camps with squalid living conditions.
Many Aceh residents have long been aware of the plight of this Muslim minority. But some are now showing hostility to them and threatening to send them back to the sea.
Clashes broke out on Wednesday between more than a hundred residents and police during a demonstration demanding the deportation of refugees who arrived by boat on Sabang island last week.
On Friday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said his government suspected a human trafficking network was behind the massive influx of refugees.
Indonesia is not a signatory to the U.N. Refugee Convention and says it is under no obligation to take them.