Soaring brutality drives sea exodus

For a better life: Newly-arrived Rohingya refugees resting on a beach in Sabang island, Aceh province. — AFP

HOLDING his son’s hand in a temporary shelter in Indonesia, Rohingya Mohamed Ridoi says he made the dangerous 12-day sea journey from massive refugee camps in Bangladesh to escape the pervasive threats of kidnapping, extortion and murder.

The 27-year-old said he was starting a “peaceful life” in a temporary shelter in Indonesia’s western Aceh province, where more than 1,000 Rohingya people have arrived this month, the largest such influx since 2015.