Protest in Indonesia over growing numbers of Rohingya refugees

As authorities named additional suspects in human trafficking, students in the Indonesian province of Aceh protested on Wednesday, calling on the government to expel Rohingya migrants who are arriving by boat in increasing numbers.

Since November, more than 1,500 Rohingya have arrived in Aceh, on the tip of Sumatra, having fled brutal attacks in Myanmar and now are leaving camps in neighboring Bangladesh in pursuit of better life.

In Banda Aceh, the provincial capital of Aceh province, about 200 students staged a protest in front of the provincial parliament, urging lawmakers to reject the Rohingya refugees, claiming their presence would cause social and economic unrest in the area.

The protesters chanted and criticised the government and the UN refugee agency for failing to manage the refugee arrivals. Some protesters burned tires on the street.

Indonesia had once tolerated the refugees while Thailand and Malaysia pushed them away. But the growing hostility of some Indonesians toward the Rohingya has put pressure on President Joko Widodo’s government to take action.

Widodo earlier this month said the government suspected a surge in human trafficking for the increase in Rohingya arrivals.

Police in Banda Aceh on Wednesday named two more suspected human smugglers from Bangladesh and Myanmar following the arrival of one boat of refugees on Dec 10. One of them, the captain, himself a refugee, was charged with trafficking.

About 740,000 Rohingya were resettled in Bangladesh after fleeing their homes in Myanmar to escape a brutal counterinsurgency campaign carried out in 2017 by security forces.

Efforts to repatriate the Rohingya have failed because of doubts their safety can be assured.