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
April 6, 2013
Courier Mail
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.
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