BANDA ACEH (AP) – Indonesian authorities detected at least five boats packed tight with refugees approaching shores of Aceh province, officials said yesterday.
The boats are the latest in a surge of vessels that have arrived in Aceh, most carrying Rohingya refugees from southern Bangladesh, where the persecuted Muslim minority fled in 2017 following attacks by the military in their homeland of Myanmar.
Indonesia intensified patrols of its waters after a sharp rise in Rohingya refugees arriving since November, said Aceh’s Air Force Base Commander Col Yoyon Kuscahyono. He said air patrols detected at least five boats on Wednesday entering Indonesian waters, likely carrying Rohingya refugees. They were spotted entering the regencies of Lhokseumawe, East Aceh, Pidie, Aceh Besar and Sabang in north Aceh province.
Indonesia appealed to the international community for help on December 12, after more than 1,500 Rohingya refugees arrived on its shores since November.
With pressure growing on President Joko Widodo’s government to take action, he said Indonesia will still help the refugees temporarily on a humanitarian basis.
Indonesia, like Thailand and Malaysia, is not a signatory to the United Nations’ (UN) 1951 Refugee Convention outlining their legal protections, so is not obligated to accept them.
However, they have so far all provided at least temporary shelter to refugees in distress.
Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lalu Muhamad Iqbal told reporters on Wednesday that the government is willing to provide temporary shelters for Rohingya refugees “to give time for international organisations that have a mandate to handle this matter, especially UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to able to carry out their obligations”.
