[Today’s Prayer] 'Let's cross when it's quiet'... Rohingya refugee boats appear in Indonesian waters again this year

As October approaches and the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean begins to calm down, Rohingya refugees living in refugee camps in Bangladesh are once again heading out to sea to go to Southeast Asia.

According to CNN Indonesia and other sources on the 22nd (local time), on the 19th, an old wooden boat with its engine off was found drifting in the waters off Aceh Province, Sumatra Island, the northernmost part of Indonesia.

According to local officials, there were a number of children on board the ship, and at least one person has died.

Indonesian authorities towed the ship closer to land on humanitarian grounds and provided food and medical supplies.

Those in need of immediate treatment have been taken to local hospitals, but other refugees are still stuck on the boat as the Indonesian government remains reluctant to rescue them.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has called on the Indonesian government to rescue them.

But Indonesia argues that it has no obligation to rescue them because it has not signed the UN Refugee Convention, and that too many Rohingya refugees have already arrived in Indonesia for the local community to cope with.

The Rohingya, a Muslim minority, have long been oppressed as an ethnic minority in Myanmar, where the majority is Buddhist, and more than 700,000 of them are currently living in refugee camps in Bangladesh near the border to escape persecution.

However, because life in refugee camps is also poor, many refugees board old wooden boats to go to countries such as Malaysia, where Islam is the state religion, or Indonesia, where Muslims are the majority, for about six months starting in October when the sea is relatively calm.

According to UNHCR, about 4,500 Rohingya refugees fled to sea last year, of which about 600 died or went missing.

Even after crossing the sea with such difficulty, the difficulties continue. In Aceh, Indonesia, thousands of refugees have already been arriving since last year, and there have been protests and objections to their residence.

The Indonesian government is also strengthening coastal surveillance to prevent refugee boats from approaching.

Source : News

I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. (Psalm 116:1-2)

God, we hear of the Rohingya refugees who are fleeing persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and risking their lives to cross the sea on rickety wooden boats in search of a better place to practice their Islamic faith, only to find themselves unwelcome everywhere.

As they are driven out from their land of origin, and rejected even by the Muslims they call brothers in Indonesia, may they know that you are their only way of escape.

May they realize that only in Jesus can they find rest, and may they come to Him and cry out.

As the Rohingya come to Jesus, we trust that you will listen to them, comfort them and lead them in the righteous way that is best for them.

Please send more people that will preach the gospel to the nation that is suffering today, so that the global church can pray for this nation and so that Rohingya may join to partake for the completion of God's kingdom!