Indonesia detains 35 Burmese Muslim Rohingya heading to Australia
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| An ethnic Rohingya refugee who was among two boatloads of asylum-seekers carrying 184 people from Burma rescued by Indonesian fishermen on February 26 and 28, 2013 off the waters of Sumatra island stands by the window of an immigration quarantine centre in Aceh. Picture: AFP |
Courier Mail
April 6, 2013
INDONESIAN police have arrested 35 Muslim Rohingya from Burma planning to make the treacherous sea crossing to Australia to seek asylum.
Officials said the arrests came the same day Rohingya being held at a detention centre on Sumatra island beat to death eight Buddhist detainees from Burma after being enraged by photos of recent communal violence in their homeland.
Rohingya, described by the United Nations as one of the world's most persecuted minorities, have fled Burma in their thousands since Buddhist-Muslim tensions exploded in their home state of Rakhine last year.
The 35 migrants, who included 12 children, were arrested at a flat in the city of Surabaya, East Java province, for not having the necessary immigration documents to be in Indonesia, said local police chief Wiji Suwartini.
"They planned to go to Australia," she said, adding that they would be sent to an immigration detention centre in the city.
An increasing number of Rohingya have been arriving on Indonesian shores, where many face long stints in detention awaiting UN assessment for refugee status.
Friday's attack at the detention centre in Belawan underscored the soaring Muslim-Buddhist tensions that have cast a shadow over political reforms in Burma which have brought an end to decades of authoritarian military rule.
Australia is facing a steady influx of asylum-seekers arriving by boat, many of whom use Indonesia as a transit hub, paying people-smugglers for passage on leaky wooden vessels after fleeing their home countries.
Hundreds have died making the treacherous journey over the past few years.
