Young Rohingya leave Bangladesh camps for university dream

the japan times
By Agnes Anya
AFP-Jiji
Dec 4, 2023

Rohingya refugee Abdur Rahaman at a temporary Indonesian immigration shelter in Lhokseumawe, in Aceh province. | AFP-Jiji

Lhokseumawe, Indonesia –

Muhammed Hasson said a painful goodbye to his parents in a refugee camp in Bangladesh before embarking on a dangerous sea journey, refusing to let Myanmar's crackdown six years ago on Rohingyas like him crush his dream of attending university.

Aceh Villagers Refuse Entry to Rohingya Refugees

JAKATA GLOBE
Taufik Kelana
December 3, 2023

Newly-arrived ethnic Rohingya women, part of a group who was denied landing a few times by local residents, rest at a temporary shelter in Bireun, Aceh province, Indonesia Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. Almost 1,000 Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar have arrived by boat in Indonesia

Sabang. Residents of a secluded village in Aceh, the westernmost province of Indonesia, declined entry to 139 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar on Sunday.

The refugees, consisting mostly of women and children, reached the coastal area of Ie Meulee village in Sabang on Saturday.

However, they found themselves stranded on the beach as local residents resisted their arrival, preventing them from moving further into residential areas.

Rohingya refugees reach Indonesia shores in latest boat arrival

ALJAZEERA
2 Dec 2023 

Newly arrived Rohingya refugees rest at a beach on Sabang island in Indonesia's Aceh province. [Chaideer Mayhuddin/AFP]

More than 100 Rohingya refugees, including women and children, have landed in Indonesia’s westernmost province, officials say, but locals have threatened to push them back out to sea.

Hundreds more of the mostly Muslim refugees from Myanmar were trapped on board another two unseaworthy vessels adrift in the Andaman Sea, the office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Saturday.

Why Rohingya refugees choose Indonesia as a safe haven

Dhaka Tribune
Deutsche Welle
Publish : 02 Dec 2023

Rohingya Muslims walk through waters after they are temporarily allowed by locals to land in Ulee Madon beach, in Indonesia on November 16, 2023. Photo: Reuters

An increasing number of Rohingya refugees are leaving the crowded camps of Cox’s Bazar, making the 1,800-kilometer sea crossing south to Indonesia in rickety boats.

Indonesian police and fishermen said last week they have begun patrolling parts of Aceh province, on the northwestern tip of Sumatra, to prevent the landing of refugee boats. Over 1,000 Rohingya have arrived last month, the largest number since 2015.

Refugees escape Cox's Bazar

DW
December 3'2023

However, life has remained difficult for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, as they lack food, security, education, and work opportunities in the crowded camps.

A report by Human Rights Watch published this year said criminal gangs and affiliates of Islamist armed groups were causing fear at night in the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar.

A 19-year-old Rohingya refugee who recently arrived in Aceh province with her family told the AFP news agency that criminals in Cox's Bazar threatened her and her family every day, and she paid over $1,800 (€1,640) for the boat journey to Indonesia.

Gangs, extortion in Bangladesh camps driving Rohingya sea exodus

FRANCE 24
Issued on: 27/11/2023

Lhokseumawe (Indonesia) (AFP) – Holding his son's hand in a temporary shelter in Indonesia, Rohingya Mohamed Ridoi says he made the dangerous 12-day sea journey from massive refugee camps in Bangladesh to escape the pervasive threats of kidnapping, extortion and murder. 

Rohingya refugees say they fled escalating brutality in the camps in and around Cox's Bazar, which hold more than one million people © ZIKRI MAULANA / AFP 

The 27-year-old said he was starting a "peaceful life" in a temporary shelter in Indonesia's western Aceh Province, where more than 1,000 Rohingya people have arrived this month, the largest such influx since 2015.

Office of the Special Envoy Engagements with Myanmar Stakeholders Jakarta, 20-22 November 2023

Ministry of foreign Affairs of Republic of Indonesia
Friday, 24/November/2023

Jakarta (22/11) – Continuing the process undertaken as the ASEAN Chair 2023, the Office of the Special Envoy on Myanmar has organised a meeting attended by major stakeholders of Myanmar to push forward the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus (5PC) and work towards the convening of inclusive dialogues for a comprehensive and durable political solution to the crisis in Myanmar.

UN expert: Support Rohingya refugees following Indonesia

Dhaka Tribune
UNB
Publish : 23 Nov 2023,

File photo of Rohingyas. Photo: Dhaka Tribune

A UN expert on Thursday called for a regional emergency response to the growing number of desperate Rohingya refugees who continue to arrive in Indonesia in overcrowded vessels, as conditions in refugee camps in Bangladesh continue to deteriorate, where food rations have been significantly cut.

About 250 Rohingya Refugees in Aceh Sent back to sea

The Jakata Post
Friday, November 17, 2023

Newly arrived Rohingya refugees are stranded on a boat after the nearby community decided not to allow them to land after giving them water and food in Pineung, Aceh province on November 16, 2023. (AFP/Amanda Jufrian)

About 250 Rohingya refugees in an overcrowded wooden boat have been turned away from Aceh and sent back to sea, residents said Friday.

Villagers in Indonesia’s Aceh province turn away boat carrying 200-plus Rohingya

Benar News
Pizaro Gozali Idrus
2023.11.16
Jakarta

Rohingya refugees react after reaching the beach by swimming as others are stranded on a boat after villagers decided not to allow them to land but gave them water and food in Bireuen district, Aceh province, Indonesia, Nov. 16, 2023. [Amanda Jufrian/AFP]

 

More than 200 Rohingya reached Indonesia’s Aceh province in a boat on Thursday, bringing the number of new arrivals this week to nearly 600, but villagers in separate locations forced the latest batch to return to sea, officials said.

Third batch of around 200 Rohingya arrive in Indonesia's Aceh

Reuters
November 16, 2023

Rohingya women and children wait to be transported to a temporary shelter, as they arrive in Pidie Regency, Aceh province, Indonesia, November 14, 2023. REUTERS/Riska Munawarah/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

 

JAKARTA, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Around 200 Rohingya reached the shores of Indonesia's Aceh province on Thursday, the head of the provincial fishing community said, the third boat to arrive in as many days and taking total arrivals over this period to about 600.

Almost 200 Rohingya arrive by boat in Indonesia's Aceh

CNA
14 Nov 2023  

Rohingya refugees walk on a road after they landed on the shores of Indonesia's Aceh province, at a camp in Ladong, Aceh province, Indonesia, on Jan 11, 2023. (Photo: REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan)

JAKARTA: Almost two hundred Rohingya, most of them women and children, arrived by boat at Indonesia's Aceh province on Tuesday (Nov 14), the chief of a local fishing community said, the latest batch of people to have fled Myanmar by boat this year.

About 100 Rohingya arrive by boat in Indonesia's Aceh

dunia news
Tue, 14 Nov 2023 

Rohingya fled a deadly crackdown in 2017 by Myanmar's military and living in neighbouring countries

 

JAKARTA (Reuters) – About one hundred Rohingya landed in Indonesia's Aceh province on Tuesday, the chief of a local fishing community said, the latest batch of people to have fled Myanmar by boat this year.

Almost 200 Rohingya arrive by boat in Indonesia's Aceh

REUTERS

Hidayatullah Tahjuddin
November 14, 2023

JAKARTA, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Almost two hundred Rohingya, most of them women and children, arrived by boat at Indonesia's Aceh province on Tuesday, the chief of a local fishing community said, the latest batch of people to have fled Myanmar by sea this year.

Many members of the ethnic Rohingya Muslims, a persecuted minority in Myanmar, have for years boarded rickety wooden boats to escape to Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia as well as Thailand.

Southeast Asia fears US neglect, ostracised Muslims and resurgent extremists as Israel-Gaza war rages on

Institute of stragetc & Ineternational Studies
Thomas Daniel,
By Maria Siow and Amy Sood
- 23 October 2023 Related:
Israel, Malaysia, Middle East, Palestine, Southeast Asia

 

• Analysts warn of a spike in Hamas-inspired radicalisation and plummeting interfaith relations as the Middle Eastern conflict continues to escalate
• Washington’s attention, meanwhile, looks set to remain elsewhere due to a fundamental ‘shift of focus’ – unless China ‘does something really drastic’

 

As the civilian death toll from the bloodiest Israel-Gaza conflict in decades climbs ever higher, analysts warn that Asia must be on guard against deep divisions over the war tearing at the region’s social fabric – and the consequences of an increasingly distracted United States turning the bulk of its attention elsewhere.

Bangladesh asks ASEAN to "carry" Rohingya

KOMPAS
FX LAKSANA AGUNG SAPUTRA DARI NEW YORK, AS
23 September 2023 

The fate of the Rohingya ethnic group who were forced to flee Myanmar in 2017 is unclear. The issue is getting deeper and deeper with various recent dynamics. 

KOMPAS/FX LAKSANA AGUNG SAPUTRA

From left to right, Director General of the International Organization for Migration, Antonio Vitorino, President of Timor Leste, Jose Ramos-Horta, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, and Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim AA Khan KC. The meeting discussed the Rohingya issue which was held during the High Level Week of the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States, on Thursday (21/9/2023).

NEW YORK, KOMPAS - Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged ASEAN to continue prioritizing the Rohingya issue as a significant regional agenda. She encouraged ASEAN to increase efforts to build trust in Myanmar, so that Rohingya ethnic groups could return to their homeland with dignity.

ASEAN completes 11 priority economic deliverables, MITI to continue championing Malaysian exporters’ interests

theSundaily
10-09- 2023 

AFPix

KUALA LUMPUR: ASEAN has completed 11 out of 16 Priority Economic Deliverables (PEDs) under Indonesia’s chairmanship, while five out of seven PEDs under the purview of ASEAN Economic Ministers have been completed, according to the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI).

Good reason to tread carefully on Rohingya crisis

Jarkata Post
Tan Hui Yee

15.12.2016

 

 In this May 12 file photo, ethnic Rohingya sit at a refugee camp north of Sittwe, western Rakhine state, Myanmar. The long-persecuted Rohingya, many of whose families arrived in Myanmar generations ago, are treated as illegal migrants from neighboring Bangladesh and virtually excluded from the political process. (AP/Gemunu Amarasinghe )

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak broke with the spirit of Asean camaraderie by joining a recent march protesting against Myanmar's treatment of its beleaguered Rohingya, a Muslim minority group within the predominantly Buddhist country. "We want to tell Aung San Suu Kyi enough is enough!" he told the leader of the fellow Asean member, in reference to alleged atrocities some have condemned as "genocide".

Time Is Running out for Indonesia to Turn the Tide on Myanmar

THE DIPLOMAT
By David Hutt
April 25, 2023 

If Indonesia ends up the steward of ASEAN’s failure over Myanmar, Laos – the next chair – will be the gravedigger.

There are two ways of looking at Indonesia’s handling of the Myanmar crisis during its once-a-decade stint as ASEAN chair. Either Indonesia has been ASEAN chairman for only a few months so shouldn’t be blamed for having, so far, not come up with a meaningful policy on the Myanmar crisis. Or it only has eight months left as the chair and if it fails to devise a policy, the entire ASEAN-led response could crumble when it hands over the chairmanship next year to Laos, which is sure to steer the regional bloc down the path of greater acceptance of Myanmar’s military junta.

Upon the handover, Jakarta needs to have in place more than something resembling a coherent policy toward Myanmar. There needs to be a gift-wrapped policy on which there’s so much accord among member states that Laos cannot walk it back. ASEAN’s policy must be able to sustain itself even when in the hands of the disinterested.

ASEAN's deepening fissures over Myanmar test Indonesia's resolve

NIKKEI ASIA
GWEN ROBINSON,
Nikkei Asia editor-at-large
April 18, 2023 

ASEAN leaders including Myanmar's top general, Min Aung Hlaing, agreed in April 2021 on five steps toward resolving the crisis in the war-torn member state. Only one has been accomplished, and the bloc's unity and credibility are on the line. © Nikkei montage/Source photo by Reuters

Asia In

2023 chair works quietly to overcome two years of Five Point Consensus failure

PHNOM PENH -- Two years after they gathered in Jakarta to forge a consensus on the Myanmar crisis, Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders have rarely faced such disunity as they prepare for an uneasy summit in Indonesia from May 6 to 10.

In what one regional diplomat described as a "tail wagging the dog" dynamic, the spiraling violence in Myanmar under a savage military regime and determined resistance forces has opened diplomatic and political fault lines while undermining the 10-member group's international image. Other differences -- over attitudes to China and the U.S., or issues such as refugees and human rights -- are also threatening ASEAN unity like never before.