Indonesian fishermen rescue stranded Rohingya refugees

Indonesian fishermen in Northern Aceh had rescued 94 Rohingyas seeking asylum off the coast of Indonesia. The refugees consist of 15 men, 49 women, and 30 children had gone without food for several days.

The locals angered at the refusal of authorities to give the Myanmar minority shelter, decided to bring those stranded in their rickety wooden boat ashore themselves.

Local police chief Eko Hartanto said they wanted to send the Rohingya back to sea rather than give them temporary shelter citing coronavirus concerns, but the authorities appeared to soften their stance in the face of local protests.

The Sumatra island maritime officials then intercepted the locals rescue mission and pulled them closer to shore. The weary group are now temporarily being put up in private residences and would be checked by medical staff to ensure they were virus-free

“It’s purely for humanitarian reasons, we were sad seeing kids and pregnant women stranded at sea,” said fisherman Aples Kuari.

“Today’s disembarkation of Rohingya refugees is a moment of optimism and solidarity. It’s a credit to the community in Aceh who pushed hard and took risks so that these children, women and men could be brought to shore. They have shown the best of humanity.” Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid praised the spirit of the rescue in a statement.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced it will work together with the Aceh government to help the refugees.

UNHCR protection associate, Oktina, on Thursday, thanked the locals and administration who teamed up to rescue the group. The organization has yet established a plan to whether move the refugees to the North Sumatra refugee camp as it will wait for further decisions taken by the local government. 

Myanmar’s treatment of its minorities in Rakhine state in western Myanmar has attracted international scrutiny. Myanmar denies abuses against them but says the Rohingya are not citizens but undocumented immigrants from South Asia.

Military crackdown in Myanmar has forced hundreds of thousands of the Rohingya to flee persecution and violence to neighboring Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia since 2015.

Earlier this month authorities in Malaysia found 269 survivors and the body of a dead woman on board a boat which was intercepted by authorities at the shores of Langkawi Island. Dozens of Rohingya were believed to have died and were thrown overboard during their four-month journey on boat seeking asylum.

They were believed to be transferred to the second vessel from a mothership carrying more than 800 people. Authorities have not found the original boat, thought to be carrying around 500 people. Authorities have yet to confirm if the group who landed off Indonesia’s coast belonged to that larger group.

The refugee crisis has brought pressure on ASEAN as a collective and become a regular subject in various meetings. Their neighbours have recently turned them away over concern they could be harbouring the deadly coronavirus.

Malaysia, which does not recognise refugee status, says it has turned back 22 boats trying to enter the country illegally since the start of May.

Leaders of ASEAN member states met virtually in the landmark summit today, Various regional issues including the fate of Rohingya refugees stranded at sea who face widespread rejection from countries were discussed.

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has said the country can no longer take in Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, citing a struggling economy and dwindling resources as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“ASEAN must do more to help Myanmar, and Myanmar must also do more to help itself for this crisis to be put behind us,” he said.