Boat people who have come ashore in Southeast Asia after harrowing journeys are delighted that Indonesia and Malaysia are to give them temporary shelter — although some were baffled by an offer of sanctuary in a tiny African nation they had never heard of.
Nearly 3,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants have been rescued or swum to shore in recent days in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, after a Thai crackdown on human-trafficking routes threw the illicit trade into chaos.
The three nations had sparked outrage by turning away some vessels, but on Wednesday, Indonesia and Malaysia relented, saying they would give migrants temporary shelter.
Thailand did not sign on fully to the initiative, saying only that it would no longer push boats out of Thai waters.
In Indonesia’s western Aceh Province, where approximately 1,800 Rohingya — a persecuted Muslim minority from predominantly Buddhist Myanmar — and Bangladeshis have landed since the crisis began, the news was greeted with joy.
“I am happy now that Indonesia and Malaysia are accepting Rohingya,” said Muhammadul Hasson, a 17-year-old who was rescued last week along with hundreds of others.
However, there was some confusion over an offer from the impoverished west African nation of the Gambia to take in Rohingya migrants as part of its “sacred duty” to alleviate the suffering of fellow Muslims.
Muhammad Jaber, a 27-year-old Rohingya, was puzzled when confronted with the idea of going to live in a country thousands of miles away that he knew nothing about.
However, he concluded: “If it is a Muslim country and they accept us as their citizens, why not?”
The Gambia’s offer stands in stark contrast with iron-fisted Gambian President Yahya Jammeh’s professed disdain for the thousands of African migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea, including many from his own country.
The stateless Rohingya suffer constant abuse in Myanmar, with the government insisting they are illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.
They have long been boarding rickety boats to cross the Bay of Bengal, normally headed for relatively affluent, Muslim-majority Malaysia, and have in recent years been joined by Bangladeshis seeking to escape grinding poverty.
Jaber said he did not feel any anger toward Indonesia or Malaysia, despite their previous hardline stance.
Both countries are now offering to accept the boat people for one year, or until they can be resettled or repatriated with the help of international agencies.
“We are ready to go to any country where they can accept us as citizens, but we will not go back to Myanmar,” Jaber said.
Some of the latest arrivals, from a group of 400 Rohingya rescued off the Aceh coast on Wednesday, told of a horrific voyage, drifting helplessly in the final days as they were pushed away by Thailand and then Malaysia, and said sending them back to Myanmar would be a death sentence.
“If the government of Indonesia returns us to Myanmar, it is the same as killing us,” said Sohidullah, 45.
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