Myanmar has imprisoned 112 individuals, including 12 children, from the minority Rohingya after they were captured attempting to flee the country. The court in Bogale in the southern Ayeyarwady region of Myanmar jailed the gang on January 6, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar said on Tuesday, citing local police.
The trio was seized in December after they were spotted aboard a motorboat “without any formal documents”, the newspaper added. Of the 12 youngsters, five were under the age of 13 and sentenced to two years, and the older children to three years. They were transported to a “youth training school” on Monday, according to the report. It further said that the adults were given five-year sentences in prison. The largely Muslim Rohingya are denied citizenship and other fundamental rights in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which alleges they are “illegal migrants” from South Asia.
Hundreds of thousands left the country for neighboring Bangladesh in 2017 after a brutal crackdown by the military that is now the subject of an international genocide prosecution. Many of those that remain in Myanmar are confined to camps where they are subject to harsh restrictions on their movement, hampering their ability to work, study or seek medical help. Described as the world’s most persecuted minority, Rohingya from the refugee camps in Bangladesh as well as in Myanmar continue to attempt risky sea trips to migrate to Malaysia and Indonesia, Muslim-majority nations where they hope they will be able to lead better lives.
At least 185 Rohingya arrived in Indonesia’s northernmost region of Aceh late last month after their boat drifted at sea for weeks. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says the number of Rohingya conducting such travels jumped six fold last year compared with 2021. Last month, two boats with about 200 individuals on board landed in the Indonesian region of Aceh.
