Indonesian police, fishers start patrols to stop Rohingya boats
Lhokseumawe, Indonesia — AFP
Indonesian police and fishermen say they have begun patrolling parts of the country’s westernmost province to prevent Rohingya refugees from landing on its shores, after nearly 1,100 members of the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority arrived this month.
Thousands from what has been described by the UN as “the most persecuted community in the world” risk their lives each year making sea journeys from refugee camps in Bangladesh, often in flimsy boats, to try to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.
As sailing conditions eased this month, more than half a dozen boats carrying hundreds of Rohingya people from Bangladesh arrived in Aceh province, including some that locals tried to turn back to sea.
Police in East Aceh, a regency of more than 350,000 people that saw 36 Rohingya arrive last week, said they have now imposed round-the-clock patrols.
The force “has instructed its subordinate police precincts with coastal areas to intensify surveillance, both along the coastline and in the waters of the Malacca Strait, to prevent the entry of Rohingya immigrants”, it said in a statement.
“The police are patrolling 24/7 to prevent Rohingya immigrants from landing in East Aceh,” said police chief Andy Rahmansyah.
In North Aceh, head of Tanoh Anoe village Amiruddin Ismail said that patrols were stepped up on Friday night after fishermen reported sighting a Rohingya boat two miles off the coast of Muara Batu town.
Experts have expressed concern Indonesia will be the next country to toughen its borders to prevent Rohingya landings, with Malaysia, Thailand and India all deterring their arrivals.
Many Acehnese have long been sympathetic to the plight of their fellow Muslims.
But some say their patience has been tested, claiming the Rohingya consume scarce resources and occasionally come into conflict with locals.
More than a million Rohingya have fled a brutal genocide in Myanmar in 2017 that forced many to settle in camps in Bangladesh.
Indonesia is not a signatory to the United Nations refugee convention and says it is not compelled to take in refugees from Myanmar.
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