Not All Rohingya Ethnics Land In Aceh Refugees, Some Are Looking For Work For A Better Life

Banda Aceh Police Chief Kombes Fahmi Irwan Ramli (right)/ANTARA/Khalis

BANDA ACEH - Banda Aceh City Police stated that not all Rohingya ethnic residents who landed in Aceh were refugees, but there were allegations of smuggling people (people sampling) on the landing.

Banda Aceh Police Chief Kombes Fahmi Irwan Ramli said one of them was the landing of 137 Rohingya ethnic residents at Blang Ulam Beach, Lamreh Village, Grand Mosque District, Aceh Besar on Sunday (10/12). The police found that not all of them had refugee cards from UNHCR.

"Of the 137 Rohingya, that some time ago, not all of the refugees who were Cox's Bazar," said Kombes Fahmi as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, December 18.

From the police investigation in the group of 137 Rohingya, two of them were known to be Bangladeshi citizens, the rest were Myanmar citizens.

They departed from Cox's Bazar Bangladesh not to flee or save themselves, but to find a decent job as an effort to improve life.

"From the examination of the witnesses (Rohingya residents) we asked, that they came to the destination country in order to improve their lives, to find work," he said.

In addition, he continued, of the 137 Rohingya residents who landed, several of them were also financed by their parents or families. However, the parents and their families are still in the Cox's Bazar refugee camp.

"So it means that we can conclude for the time being, that they are not in a state of emergency, from a country of origin to Indonesia. They have a goal of getting a better life by looking for work in a destination country," he said.

In addition, according to the Police Chief, the results of an in-depth investigation conducted by the Banda Aceh Police at the beginning of the Rohingya ethnicity landed in Aceh, the police found that Aceh or Indonesia was a stopover or transit for them, whose final destination was Malaysia.

"But lately from the interviews we have conducted, the analysis we are doing, now Indonesia is the destination country to get a better job of living," he said.

The Banda Aceh Police have also named a Rohingya relative on behalf of Muhammed Amin (MA) as a suspect in the alleged criminal act of human smuggling into Indonesia.

MA is suspected of being involved in smuggling as many as 137 Rohingya people, including himself, who landed at Blang Ulam Hamlet, Lamreh Village, Mesjid Raya District, Aceh Besar, on Sunday (10/12). Now, the Rohingya ethnic groups are still in the underground parking lot of Balai Meseuraya Aceh (BMA) in Banda Aceh.

"The suspect has the initials MA, 35 years old from Myanmar. The person concerned is a refugee Camp 1 Block H-88 Kutupulum, the Rohingya Ethnic Shelter in Cox's Bazar Bangladesh," said Fahmi.

The suspect was charged with Article 120 paragraph (1) of Law Number 6 of 2011 concerning Immigration.