CNA Correspondent Podcast: Why do so many Rohingya refugees end up in Aceh, Indonesia?

Shores that were once welcoming are now hostile to Rohingya refugees looking for a better life.

CNA’s Chandni Vatvani tells Teresa Tang about her visit to a refugee camp in Aceh, Indonesia and what authorities are doing to maintain the peace.

Jump to these key moments:

• 1:17 Rohingya refugees' plight in Indonesia
• 5:36 Conditions in refugee camps
• 10:01 Aceh residents' fear
• 16:17 Challenges for Indonesian authorities
• 21:44 Growing hostilities

Here's an excerpt from the podcast: 

Teresa Tang:

These shores were once welcoming, but they have become hostile now. Some even protesting the presence of more Rohingyas in Aceh. What has changed? Why is there this pushback now? 

Chandni Vatvani:

Well Teresa, again, you know it's interesting, because if we look at Aceh, Aceh is Indonesia's westernmost province. It is a religiously conservative territory and the only province in Indonesia officially practicing Syariah law.

Now we talk to people in Aceh, we talk to the locals, and not just in the villages, but also in the capital Banda Aceh and we ask them this very question, and some things stood out in their responses.

Number one, many said that they sympathised and they empathised with the plight of the Rohingya refugees. However, they felt increasingly that Indonesia was being taken advantage of. They said it was okay for them, and it was okay by them when smaller numbers (of Rohingyas) used to arrive in boats, but this influx caused a wave of panic.

And again, if we look at Aceh, as of 2022, Aceh was in the top five poorest provinces in Indonesia. However, that statistic has been decreasing and Aceh has been doing better in terms of the poverty rate.

Nonetheless, many people, especially the hosting communities and within the hosting communities, people feel the burden, they say, of hosting the Rohingya in their vicinities and their communities worry that more is being done by authorities for foreigners rather than locals ...

Now there's also the fact that people worry that Indonesia and in Aceh particular, will become a landing site for Rohingya refugees. You know some people we spoke to, they say, “Oh, the Rohingya refugees, they cause trouble. They do petty crimes.” Escaping from the camps is something that we did hear about from them as well.