5 more boats packed with refugees approach Indonesia’s shores, air force says

By YAYAN ZAMZAMI and NINIEK KARMINI
Associated Press

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities have detected at least five boats packed tight with Rohingya refugees approaching the shores of Aceh province. The boats are the latest in a surge of vessels that have arrived in Aceh, most carrying Rohingya refugees from southern Bangladesh where the persecuted Muslim minority fled in 2017 following attacks by the military in their homeland of Myanmar. Patrols have intensified the number of refugees rose sharply in November. Indonesia once tolerated such landings while Thailand and Malaysia pushed them away. But the growing hostility of some Indonesians toward Rohingya refugees has put pressure on President Joko Widodo’s government to take action.