Videos show passenger boats in Bangladesh, not 'Rohingya refugees on way to Indonesia'

This article is more than one year old.
Published on January 5, 2024 at 09:17
5 min read
By AFP Indonesia, AFP Bangladesh

Two videos of overcrowded vessels have been viewed millions of times in social media posts that falsely claimed they showed ships carrying Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to Indonesia. The posts circulated as Rohingya refugees faced growing hostility in Indonesia, with reports of residents preventing refugee boats from docking and trying to push them back out to sea. But the clips in fact show boats that ferry passengers on domestic routes in Bangladesh.

"Rohingyas are being transported again from Bangladesh to Indonesia," reads Indonesian-language text on a TikTok video shared on December 11, 2023.

Referring to the United Nations refugee agency, it adds: "Is the UNHCR's intention to turn Indonesia into a refugee camp?"

The six-second clip, which shows an overcrowded vessel, has racked up more than 11.6 million views.

Screenshot of the false post, captured on January 2, 2024

A similar video, also appearing to show a boat laden with passengers, was shared on TikTok here on December 14, 2023.

"OTW Indonesia," reads Indonesian-language text on the 35-second video, which has been viewed more than half a million times.

"Indonesians, prepare delicious food for us, we are coming."

The post's caption claims that "the Rohingya are now in Sabang", referring to an island on the northern tip of Indonesia's Aceh province, where hundreds of Rohingya had landed in the preceding weeks.

Screenshot of the second false post, captured on January 4, 2024

The videos were also shared in similar posts on TikTok here, here and here, as well as on Instagram, garnering more than 3.6 million views in total.

More than 1,500 Rohingya refugees have arrived on the shores of Aceh province since mid-November 2023 in what the United Nations says is the biggest influx for eight years.

Some refugees said they fled escalating brutality in the camps in and around Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, which hold more than one million people and where gangs regularly abduct and torture residents for ransom.

But the persecuted Myanmar minority have also faced rejection from locals in Aceh, and in some cases their boats have been returned to sea.

In an escalation of tensions in late December 2023, hundreds of university students in Aceh stormed a temporary shelter for more than a hundred Rohingya refugees, forcing them to leave.

The clips circulating online, however, show passenger vessels that ply domestic routes in Bangladesh, not refugee boats on their way to Indonesia.

First video

A reverse image search on Google, followed by a keyword search, found the first four seconds of the first false clip were taken from a longer video uploaded on a Bangladesh-based YouTube channel, Extreme Launch Lover, on July 14, 2020 (archived link).

The first four seconds used in the false post start at the 1:23 mark of the YouTube video.

The video's Bengali-language description reads, "MV Kirtonkhola-10 is crossing the Meghna River with thousands of passengers from Charmonai to Dhaka. MV Kirtonkhola-10 Route: Dhaka-Barisal-Dhaka".

The vessel's name, Kirtonkhola-10, and its route, Dhaka-Barisal-Dhaka, are written on the boat.

The MV Kirtonkhola-10 is listed on a Bangladeshi government website as serving the route between the cities of Dhaka and Barisal (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video used in the first false post (left) and the original video from Extreme Launch Lover (right):

Screenshot comparison of the video used in the first false post (left) and the original video from Extreme Launch Lover (right)

The last two seconds of the false video show several passengers standing on the starboard edge of a boat.

A Bengali-speaking AFP journalist identified the text above the passengers as showing the boat's route, Dhaka-Nurainpur-Kalaia.

A keyword search on YouTube found the clip was taken from this video, posted on Bangladesh-based channel ShipLand BD on June 23, 2018 (archived link).

According to the video's description, it shows MV Dhulia-1, which operates the route, hitting another passenger boat on the Tentulia River.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video used in the false post (left) and the original video from ShipLand BD (right):

Screenshot comparison of the video used in the false post (left) and the original video from ShipLand BD (right)

Second video

A Google reverse image search, followed by a keyword search on X and YouTube, found the second falsely shared video had previously been posted on a Bangladesh-based YouTube channel called Lonch Lover BD on November 1, 2020 (archived link).

The video is titled: "Tashrif-3//Lonch Lover Bangladesh// #sadarghat_lonch_terminal".

MV Tashrif-3 is a vessel that operates the route between Dhaka and Boula, according to a government website (archived link).

Bengali words on the vessel also mention its name and its route.

The Sadargha Lonch Terminal, also called the Sadarghat launch terminal, is on the banks of the Buriganga river in Dhaka.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the second false post (left) and the original video from Lonch Lover BD (right):

Screenshot comparison of the video in the second false post (left) and the original video from Lonch Lover BD (right)

AFP has previously debunked false claims targeting Rohingya refugees that circulated in Malaysia here and here, and in India here.

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