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RI to push for shared responsibility for migrants
Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi says Indonesia will push for a wider sense of responsibility in the international community for the migrant crisis in the Southeast Asia region
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oreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi says Indonesia will push for a wider sense of responsibility in the international community for the migrant crisis in the Southeast Asia region.
Indonesia will raise the issue, especially the plight of Rohingya refugees, during the special meeting on irregular migration in the Indian Ocean, in Bangkok on Friday.
Delegations from 17 countries, including ASEAN members and several other Asian countries, along with the US, Switzerland and a number of international NGOs, will gather to discuss how to tackle the migrant crisis.
'The Indonesian delegation will bring a strong message regarding the importance of addressing the root causes of the migrant issue, emphasizing the collaborative effort in uprooting the practice of human trafficking and urging [more parties] to share the moral obligation for handling these irregular migrants,' Retno told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
'We've been relaying this message from the very beginning [of the crisis], and we'll voice it again in Bangkok,' the minister hinted.
The Indonesian delegation will be led by the ministry's director for international security and disarmament, Andy Rachmianto.
Meanwhile, Deputy Foreign Minister AM Fachir also said Indonesia would stick to its recent commitment to offer temporary shelter to the thousands of ethnic Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants still adrift at sea.
'That's our commitment, depending on the efforts by the international community to resolve [the issue] within a year,' Fachir said at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday, responding to a question on whether providing shelter for the migrants might cause new social problems in the country.
Fachir also touched on last week's meeting involving the Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai foreign ministers in Malaysia, which was convened following the influx of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants into the territories of those countries earlier in the month.
The tripartite meeting resulted in Indonesia and Malaysia offering temporary shelter to an estimated 7,000 migrants still adrift, while awaiting resettlement and repatriation, with the help of funding by the international community.
Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have underscored the importance of having the international community assume a share of the responsibility, helping them deal with the international crisis.
The Thai government, however, stopped short of committing to receive more migrants, even though its officials have instructed authorities to check on the migrants at sea and to allow the sick to come ashore for medical attention.
Thailand has instead called for an international conference on the issue on Friday before deciding on whether to accept more migrants.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and International Organization for Migration (IOM) representatives have said that the shared responsibility of countries in the region was of utmost importance.
The UNHCR, along with its partners, has also given assurances that it is ready to assist the government in handling the issue.
Through a joint statement published Wednesday on the website of the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), as many as 600 non-governmental and civil society organisations operating across Asia and the Pacific region have shown their appreciation for the commitment of the Indonesian, Malaysian, and Myanmar governments to rescue those that remain stranded at sea.
'We are hopeful that the meeting will pave the way for longer term, sustainable and durable solutions to address the irregular movements by sea from those seeking to escape poverty and/or persecution,' the statement reads.
The joint statement also urged other governments to follow suit and hoped that the meeting would eventually result in more permanent and sustainable solutions.
