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RI should accept Rohingya refugees: Muhammadiyah
The countryâs second largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah, says it would agree if the Indonesian government decided to accept Rohingya Muslim asylum seekers from Myanmar, who have been stranded off the coast of Aceh
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T
he country's second largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah, says it would agree if the Indonesian government decided to accept Rohingya Muslim asylum seekers from Myanmar, who have been stranded off the coast of Aceh.
'There are existing rules we must adhere to in dealing with the matter; however, I myself will be very happy if the Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar can be accepted in Indonesia. This is particularly because they are stateless and Muslim,' Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin said as quoted by Antara news agency after inaugurating Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Riau officials in Pekanbaru on Monday evening.
'Indonesia will be able to accept them wholeheartedly because many islands in the country are still uninhabited,' he went on.
Elaborating further, Din said only half of around 17,000 islands in Indonesia were inhabited, therefore it would be no big deal for Indonesia to open one of its islands for the Rohingya asylum seekers.
'I think it's a good solution for the Rohingya crisis,' said Din.
The Muslim leader pointed out, however, that giving a part of its territory to accommodate the Rohingya could lead to Indonesia facing more influxes of asylum seekers in the future. This would burden the government as it was still dealing with many other problems.
'It should be carefully selected, what problems we have to prioritize to resolve,' said Din, who is also MUI chairman.
He further said Islamic organizations and other civil groups operating near temporary shelters housing the migrants, such as in Aceh, North Sumatra and Riau Islands, should help the Rohingya asylum seekers given the critical state of the problem and the fact that they were Muslims.
Last week, around 600 Rohingya asylum seekers from Myanmar were reportedly stranded on the coast of North Aceh. Fleeing internal conflicts in their home country, they undertook dangerous travel by boat to third countries, such as Malaysia, but some of them were left adrift at sea and became stranded off Indonesian coasts. (ebf)(+++)
