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Rohingya refugees swept away by tsunami of rejection in Aceh
This is probably the right time for Aceh’s people to repay the unconditional kindness and support they received from around the world 19 years ago, by showing the Rohingya similar compassion.
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Rohingya refugees crowd into a vehicle on Dec. 27, 2023, for relocation to a nearby government building, after demonstrating university students forced them out of their current government facility, in Banda Aceh. Hundreds of university students in Indonesia's westernmost province stormed a temporary shelter for more than a hundred Rohingya refugees on Dec. 27, forcing them to leave in the latest rejection of the persecuted Myanmar minority. (AFP/CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN)
T
he recent ruthless acts of university students in Aceh, who forcibly expelled Rohingya refugees from their temporary shelter, is heartbreaking. The expulsion took place just one day after the 19th anniversary of the tsunami that devastated the province. Back then, the world generously contributed billions of dollars of aid to rescue victims and rebuild the region.
The way hundreds of university students stormed the temporary shelter for more than 100 Rohingya refugees last week, and local people’s widespread refusal to accept Myanmar’s ethnic minority who have fallen victim to systematic persecution in their homeland is sadly ironic.
More than 1,500 Rohingya refugees have arrived on the shores of Aceh since mid-November, the biggest influx in the last eight years. People in Aceh, with the backing of local authorities, have sent the refugees back to sea despite, neglecting to show mercy to their Muslim brethren.
AFP reported that the students forced their way into a government property in the province’s capital city, Banda Aceh, where 137 Rohingya refugees were staying. They demanded the removal of the unwanted guests at the immigration office. They warned they would not stop their actions until all the asylum seekers left their homeland.
During the protest, they shouted "Kick them out" and "Reject Rohingyas in Aceh". They were also seen kicking the refugees’ belongings. Some women and children refugees were in tears while men who had been praying looked to the ground, AFP reported.
The Rohingya refugees reportedly chanted Quran verses to ask for God’s mercy when the students forced them to get into the waiting trucks that would relocate them to a government office. The Rohingya had perhaps thought that the people of Aceh, dubbed the Veranda of Mecca, would warmly receive them because they are Muslims.
Meanwhile, the Navy reportedly pushed back a boat carrying Rohingya people as it approached the coast of Aceh last week.
