About 140 Rohingya Muslims on wooden boat off Indonesia’s coast as residents refuse to let them land

LABUHAN HAJI, Indonesia (AP) — About 140 weak and hungry Rohingya Muslims, mostly women and children, were on a wooden boat anchored about 1 mile (0.60 kilometers) off the coast of Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh on Tuesday, officials said, and local residents refused to allow them onto land.

The blue-painted boat has been floating off the coast since Friday. Three Rohingya died during the nearly two-week-long trip from Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh to the waters off Labuhan Haji in South Aceh district, local police said.

Authorities have transferred 11 Rohingya to a government hospital since Sunday after their health worsened.

“Our community, the fishing community, refuses to let them land because of what happened in other places. They have caused unrest to local residents,” said Muhammad Jabal, the chief of the fishing community in South Aceh.

A large banner hanging at the seaport read: “The people of South Aceh Regency reject the arrival of Rohingya refugees in the South Aceh Regency area.”

The group left Cox’s Bazar on Oct. 9, according to an Aceh police report, and intended to reach Malaysia. Some passengers on the boat had reportedly paid to be transported to other countries.

Local residents have given the group food, Jabal said, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has also provided them food.

There were 216 people on board when the boat departed Bangladesh and 50 of them reportedly disembarked in Indonesia’s Riau province, according to police.

Aceh police have arrested three suspects for alleged people smuggling.

About 1 million of the predominately Muslim Rohingya live in Bangladesh as refugees from Myanmar. They include about 740,000 who fled a brutal counterinsurgency campaign in 2017 by Myanmar’s security forces, who were accused of committing mass rapes and killings.

The Rohingya minority in Myanmar faces widespread discrimination. Most are denied citizenship.

Indonesia, like Thailand and Malaysia, is not a signatory to the United Nations’ 1951 Refugee Convention and is not obligated to accept them. However, the country generally provides temporary shelter to refugees in distress.

In March, Indonesian officials and local fishermen rescued 75 people from atop the overturned hull of a boat off the coast of Aceh. Another 67 passengers, including at least 28 children, had been killed when the boat capsized, according to the UNHCR. AP reported that the captain and crew had tortured women and girls before the the boat capsized.

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Tarigan reported from Jakarta.