On a remote island in northwestern Indonesia, just miles from the white sand beaches where more than a thousand Rohingya refugees have arrived since mid-November, throngs of residents marched outside a temporary shelter housing the newcomers.
“Shoo them away!” a protest leader chanted, met by cheers.
As sailing conditions have improved in recent months, more than half a dozen flimsy wooden boats have made the dangerous sea crossing from Bangladesh, where about a million Rohingyas have settled after fleeing persecution in Myanmar.
Their arrival marks the biggest influx to Indonesia since 2015, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR.
But after weeks at sea, the refugees face new obstacles on land: locals trying to turn their boats around, protesters attempting to raze their tents, and an Indonesian government that has left their future an open question.
Jakarta has agreed to assist the new arrivals temporarily, sheltering and feeding them. . .
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