Nearly 1,000 Rohingya refugees arrive by boat in Indonesia’s Aceh region in one week

By RAHMAT MIRZA and EDNA TARIGAN
Associated Press

LHOKSEUMAWE, Indonesia (AP) — Almost 1,000 Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar have arrived by boat in Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh in the last six days. They included five groups with women and children who were afloat for days. One batch of more than 240 people was twice denied landing by residents in Aceh Utara district, sparking concerns from human rights organizations. The group finally disembarked on Sunday morning. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees thanked local authorities for granting them landing permits. The refugees arriving in Aceh had endured a difficult sea journey. Most of them left refugee camps in Bangladesh, where more than 700,000 had fled following a crackdown by Myanmar’s army in August 2017.