Some of over 300 Rohingya refugees on Indonesian beaches transferred to shelter

Some of the more than 300 Rohingya refugees who arrived on the western coasts of Indonesia on Sunday were transferred to a temporary shelter during the visit of a United Nations representative.

A group of 135 refugees, mostly women and children, were relocated from a beach in Aceh Besar regency of Aceh province to a governor’s office building before the authorities eventually conveyed them by truck to a camping ground.

The mostly Muslim Rohingya were the target of a 2017 crackdown by Myanmar’s military that is the subject of a UN genocide probe.

Around a million have fled to Bangladesh, and from there thousands risk their lives each year on long and expensive sea journeys to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.

“They are relocated to the camping ground by the province’s [refugee] task force. They will join other Rohingya refugees that have been there,” said Aceh Besar acting regent Muhammad Iswanto on Sunday evening.

A group of 180 refugees from the persecuted Myanmar minority arrived by boat at 3:00 am local time (2000 GMT Saturday) on a beach in the Pidie regency of Aceh province.

Another boat carrying 135 refugees landed in neighbouring Aceh Besar regency hours later after being adrift at sea for more than a month.

“We had been in the sea for almost one month and 15 days. […] We left on November 1st,” 24-year-old refugee Muhammad Shohibul Islam told AFP.

The refugees gathered on a plantation next to the shore, where they drank water given to them by locals. Some lay on the ground, trying to rest after their journey.

Police found stacks of United Nations refugee cards in a cardboard box brought by the refugees, an AFP journalist saw.

“We noticed that some of these refugees have refugee cards. So, let them be re-registered first by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration [before we act further],” local police chief Rolly Yuiza Away said by telephone.