Indonesia suspects human trafficking behind growing number of Rohingya refugees

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The Indonesian government blames the rise in human trafficking on the growing number of Rohingya Muslims entering the country in recent weeks, Indonesia's president said Friday.

President Joko Widodo told a televised news conference that he had received “information about the increasing number of Rohingya refugees entering Indonesian territory, particularly in Aceh province.”

“There are strong suspicions about the involvement of a criminal human trafficking network in this flow of refugees,” he said, adding that “the government will take firm action against the perpetrators of trafficking.” of human beings.”

Police said they arrested three Aceh residents on Friday for human trafficking. They are suspected of having helped 30 Rohingya refugees leave their camp in the town of Lhokseumawe.

The suspects were paid 1.8 million rupiah ($115) to smuggle refugees from the camp to the city of Medan in North Sumatra province, said Henki Ismanto, Lhokseumawe police chief.

Since August 2017, around 740,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar to camps in Bangladesh following a brutal counter-insurgency campaign. Myanmar security forces have been accused of mass rapes, murders and burning of thousands of Rohingya homes, and international courts are examining whether their actions constitute genocide.

Most refugees who leave by sea try to reach Malaysia, which has a Muslim majority, in the hope of finding work there. Thailand pushes them back or arrests them. Indonesia, another Muslim-majority country where many people are found, is also detaining them.

Since November, more than 1,000 Rohingya refugees have arrived by boat in Aceh province, Indonesia's northernmost.

The latest arrivals, a group of 139 refugees, including women and children, disembarked on Sunday, followed by protests from local residents who demanded they be relocated. Acehnese residents have twice blocked the landing of hundreds of Rohingya refugees on the coast of their province.

Widodo said his government would provide temporary assistance to Rohingya refugees while prioritizing the interests of local residents, and would work with international organizations to resolve the Rohingya refugee problem in the country.

The humanitarian group Save the Children said in a November 22 report that 465 Rohingya children had arrived in Indonesia by boat the previous week. The organization also said the number of refugees taking to the sea had increased by more than 80 percent.

Save the Children said more than 3,570 Rohingya Muslims have left Bangladesh and Myanmar this year, compared with nearly 2,000 during the same period in 2022. Of those who left this year, 225 are dead or missing , and many others are missing. .

About 400 Rohingya Muslims are aboard two boats adrift in the Andaman Sea without adequate supplies and could die if nothing is done, according to the United Nations agency for refugees and aid workers. rescue them.

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