Hundreds storm temporary Rohingya shelter in Indonesia, vandalize belongings

ANKARA (AA) – Hundreds of young students stormed a Rohingya refugee shelter in Indonesia’s westernmost province of Aceh and forced them to leave the building, local media reported.

A group of students entered a building where the authorities had housed around 135 Rohingya refugees, including women and children, and attacked them, according to daily Media Indonesia.

Angry mobs chanted slogans of “Home! Home!”

They also kicked and threw boxes containing belongings of the refugees, according to a report.

The tense environment made the immigrants feel fear, said the daily, adding that women and children as well as babies cried together.

Later, all the refugees were transported by truck to the local office of the Law and Human Rights Ministry in Aceh.

Earlier this month, hundreds of locals staged a protest against the arrival of the Rohingya refugees via boats to Aceh and demanded the authorities shift them to another location.

Later, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said that the growing number of Rohingya people arriving in the Southeast Asian country is probably due to human trafficking.

He added that his government is continuing to provide humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya refugees and coordinating with international institutions handling refugees.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, over 3,500 Rohingya attempted deadly sea crossings in 39 boats in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal in 2022 to reach Indonesia, a 360% rise compared to 2021.

This year, around 1,543 people arrived in Aceh.

Rohingya people mostly embark on dangerous journeys between November and April via boats to reach Thailand, Bangladesh, or further to Indonesia and Malaysia when the seas are calmer.

The Rohingya Muslim community hailing from Myanmar has been described as “the most persecuted community in the world” in 2018 by the UN. Targeted for genocidal persecution by the state, the Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar in 2017, and were given temporary asylum in neighbouring Bangladesh where they continue to live in squalor. However, in recent months, Rohingya refugees — who have been denied repatriation by the military junta in Myanmar — have attempted seeking asylum in Indonesia and Malaysia.