Rohingya Boat Capsizes Near Indonesia

Facts

• A boat carrying 150 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar capsized off Indonesia's Aceh coast last week, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS Aceh) said on March 21. It is reported that 69 of those aboard were rescued.¹
• Rescuers faced challenges, as refugees clambered aboard fishing boats that arrived at the scene, causing them to become overloaded and also capsize.²
• Among those rescued from near Aceh in Indonesia were nine children, 18 women, and 42 men. Around 80 others were thought to be missing. One survivor reportedly said that some of the refugees had been at sea for a month.³
• Three bodies had been found by Saturday, when authorities ended their search for survivors. Some of the survivors have reportedly been hospitalized while most others are now in a temporary shelter.⁴
• Boat departures from Bangladesh and Myanmar have spiked since Myanmar's military began a violent campaign of explosion in 2017. The UNHCR reported that 569 had died crossing the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea in 2023, the highest number since 2014.⁵
• UNHCR data also shows that, between mid-November 2023 and late January this year, 1,752 Rohingya refugees — mostly women and children — arrived in the Indonesian provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra.⁶

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²The Guardian, ³BBC News, ⁴Associated Press, ⁵The Diplomat and ⁶VOA.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by The Guardian. Rohingya refugees' dire situation demands urgent action. While neighboring nations like Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia bear some responsibility, what's key is the tribe's status in their native Myanmar. The Myanmarese government's actions exacerbates the Rohingyas' plight, putting them more and more at the mercy of criminal networks. Anti-Muslim sentiment and the policies behind it require urgent upending.
• Narrative B, as provided by Al Jazeera. Governments in the region have absolutely failed to provide adequate assistance Rohingya refugees fleeing Bangladesh and Myanmar. This is the moment for collective action, in line with international law. ASEAN and Bali Process members must prioritize cooperation and accountability to end the cycle of suffering endured by the Rohingya.

Predictions