Rohingya refugees in Indonesia still hope for a better future

Al Jazeera
By Jessica Washington
Published On 26 Jan 202426 Jan 2024

On the beach and in a car park, Rohingya refugees are taking shelter wherever they can amid a hostile reception in Aceh.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says more than 70 percent of the Rohingya who have arrived in Indonesia in recent months are women and children. [Jessica Washington/Al Jazeera]

Pidie, Indonesia – In December, Abdul Karim boarded a wooden boat from Bangladesh with his wife and two sons, with aspirations for a better life for the whole family.

But during the perilous sea journey, which took almost three weeks, Abdul’s wife fell ill. She died just one day before their boat reached Indonesia.

“My wife dreamt of our children getting education. She wanted them to be known as honourable people,” Abdul said. “We only came here for a better future for our children.” 

Abdul’s family had taken shelter in Bangladesh, along with hundreds of thousands of Rohingya from Myanmar, due to the 2017 brutal crackdown on the ethnic minority by the Myanmar military.

On January 24, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said at least 569 Rohingya people died or went missing at sea in 2023 as they tried to reach Southeast Asia.

In recent months, more than 1700 Rohingya refugees left Bangladesh and arrived in Indonesia’s north on 11 boats, fleeing once again as camps in Bangladesh become increasingly crowded and dangerous.

 
“There was no peace. We couldn’t sleep. That’s why we came here, with the hope of being able to move freely,” Abdul said.

But life is hard in Indonesia, too.

Abdul and his sons, Saiful and Mohammad, are part of a group of more than 200 Rohingya refugees sheltering outdoors on a beach in Pidie, in Indonesia’s Aceh province.

The UNHCR, which is responsible for their food, medicine and other expenses, has urged the local government to designate secure sites for the refugees, as has been done in the past.

But local authorities told Al Jazeera the situation is complicated, due to strong rejection from the local community.

“We try to find them temporary shelters. But before we arrive in a location, local people have already gathered to protest. So, the government can’t force it,” said Ir Wahyudi Adisiswanto, acting mayor of Pidie.

Rohingya mother Nur Begum said she made the difficult journey from Bangladesh for the wellbeing of her child.

Her son has an undiagnosed medical condition. He cannot walk or speak.

“My son became like this after he turned three. Doctors told me to take my son abroad and have him treated there,” she said.

The boy has cuts all over his legs from dragging his body across the sand. And his mother is still no closer to understanding his disability.

“It is so hard for me to lift him,” Nur Begum said. “I’m surviving somehow, in this place. But I can’t express my pain as a mother. My son is hurting.”

Abdul Karim said his family ran out of drinking water towards the end of the journey, which exacerbated his wife’s illness. 'It is difficult to survive without her, with two little children,' he said. [Jessica Washington /Al Jazeera]

Nur Begum said she struggles to care for her son, who cannot walk. 'As he gets heavier, it’s harder for me to lift him when he needs to urinate or defecate,' she said. She told Al Jazeera she regrets her decision to come to Indonesia. [Jessica Washington /Al Jazeera]

 

 

The refugees sleep under tarpaulins and coconut trees, with little to shield them from the heat and rain. [Jessica Washington /Al Jazeera]

 

Indonesia is not a signatory to the UN Geneva Convention on refugees. The country's foreign ministry has reiterated that the root cause of the surge of Rohingya refugees is the ongoing conflict in Myanmar. [Jessica Washington /Al Jazeera]
 

These fishermen live in a village that includes the same beach where the refugees are sheltering temporarily. 'If I see more Rohingya at sea, I will tell them to leave. We won’t allow them to disembark,' one fisherman said. [Jessica Washington /Al Jazeera]

 

'I saw many videos about the Rohingya on social media. They get to eat nice food. But if we don’t work, we don’t get to eat,' one Acehnese woman said. [Jessica Washington /Al Jazeera]
 
 

'We are helpless. Our land and home were taken from us. We came here to seek peace as we have experienced nothing but pain all our lives,' Romakto, a mother of three, said. 'When students attacked us, I was scared they might kill my children.' [Jessica Washington /Al Jazeera]

 

Late last year, a group of university students stormed a car park where Rohingya refugees were sheltering, demanding their deportation and forcing the group out of the shelter and onto trucks. Video of the incident showed the students screaming and burning tyres, while the Rohingya children cried with fear. [Jessica Washington /Al Jazeera]

 

Across temporary shelters in Aceh, most Rohingya parents told Al Jazeera they only left Bangladesh for the sake of their children’s futures. [Jessica Washington /Al Jazeera]

 

 

 Human Rights Watch has called on Indonesian authorities to investigate the spread of hate, disinformation and misinformation against the Rohingya online. [Jessica Washington /Al Jazeera]

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