Indonesia authorizes disembarkation of Rohingya refugees after protests

This photo taken and received from Indonesian police on December 28, 2021 shows officers preparing to send supplies to Rohingya refugees aboard a wooden ship off the coast of Indonesia's Aceh province in Bireuen (Illustrative image ).

AFP - HANDOUT

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

The Indonesian authorities announced on Wednesday, December 29 that they would finally allow dozens of Rohingya refugees in difficulty at sea to disembark, after protests from the local population and the international community against his plan to push them back into Malaysian waters.

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Tuesday, December 28, a damaged wooden boat carrying a hundred Rohingya refugees, mainly women and children, was refused disembarkation on the coasts of the province of Aceh in the north of the island of Sumatra by Indonesian police.

Jakarta then indicated that food, equipment and technical assistance had been provided to them to reach Malaysia after repairing their boat.

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After a meeting on Wednesday with officials from the coastal town of Bireun, the Indonesian government backed down and said the refugee boat would be towed to shore for humanitarian reasons.

As early as Tuesday, Amnesty International and the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) called on the authorities in Jakarta to allow the boat to disembark.

Send refugees to Malaysia

The Aceh authorities' initial plan to return the refugees to Malaysia also angered residents of Bireun, where a group of fishermen staged a protest on Wednesday demanding authorities allow them to dock.

Last year, hundreds of Rohingya refugees, members of this persecuted Muslim community in Burma, arrived in Indonesia.

Most subsequently reached Malaysia, where more than 100,000 Rohingya live and work, often illegally.

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