Banda Aceh. A Myanmar national and the captain of a Rohingya boat that recently landed in Aceh Besar has been sentenced to eight years in prison for human trafficking. Two of his colleagues have also been sentenced to six years of imprisonment each.

The verdict was delivered in a ruling session at the Jantho District Court in Aceh Besar on Wednesday, led by Chief Judge Fadhil.

"Captain Mohammed Amin, Anisul Hoque, and Habibul Basyar have been legally and convincingly proven guilty of committing the crime of human trafficking," Judge Fadhil said.

The panel of judges also sentenced the other two defendants, vice-captain Anisul Hoque and technician Habibul Basyar, to six years in prison each. Additionally, the defendants were fined Rp 500 million each.

"If the fine is not paid, it will be replaced with an additional three months of imprisonment," the judge added.

According to the Banda Aceh Police, Amin transported 136 Rohingya refugees from Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh to Aceh, charging each between Rp 14 million ($860) and Rp 16 million.

“Law enforcement against the crime of people smuggling must be carried out to prevent future occurrences. The facts clearly show that the defendants have been proven guilty of committing human trafficking,” stated Judge Fadhil.

On March 13, a boat carrying dozens of Rohingya refugees capsized off Aceh. A day later, the Search and Rescue team rescued 69 refugees stranded on the hull of their capsized boat but scores more refugees were unaccounted for.

About 740,000 Rohingya were resettled in Bangladesh to escape the brutal counterinsurgency campaign by security forces in their homeland of Myanmar.

Thousands have been trying to flee overcrowded camps in Bangladesh to neighboring countries, with Indonesia seeing a spike in refugee numbers since November, prompting it to call on the international community for help. Rohingya arriving in Aceh face some hostility from some fellow Muslims.

Indonesia is not a signatory to the United Nations’ 1951 Refugee Convention and thus is not obligated to accept refugees. However, the local government and communities often provide shelters for Rohingya refugees for humanitarian reasons.

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