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Bangkok summit declines to mention Rohingya plight
Delegations participating in the special meeting on irregular migration in the Indian Ocean in Bangkok, Thailand, have declined to mention the plight of the Rohingya during discussions out of respect for Myanmar, according to an Indonesian delegation
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elegations participating in the special meeting on irregular migration in the Indian Ocean in Bangkok, Thailand, have declined to mention the plight of the Rohingya during discussions out of respect for Myanmar, according to an Indonesian delegation.
The Foreign Ministry's director for human rights and humanitarian affairs, Dicky Komar, said that discussions on the issue of irregular migration in the region have carefully avoided mentioning the sufferings of the thousands of Rohingyas who were abandoned at sea by human traffickers looking to smuggle them through well established channels on Thailand's borders.
"The Myanmar delegation has shown a positive attitude throughout the conference. [Other] delegations seemed to have held back on mentioning the Rohingya situation out of appreciation," Dicky told The Jakarta Post after the meeting on Friday.
According to Dicky, the Myanmar delegation has played an important role in the conference, demonstrating a strong will to engage in finding solutions to the problem.
Some 1,700 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants were swept ashore in Aceh, emaciated and abandoned in overloaded boats by human traffickers in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, following a Thai crackdown on smuggling camps on its border in early May.
Regarding Indonesia's role in the conference, Dicky said the Bangkok meeting had heaped praise on the government's commitment in going the extra mile in the handling of the irregular migrants issue in Aceh.
He also said that Indonesia's commitment had more or less resulted in participating countries and international organizations helping to contribute to the search for comprehensive solutions to the issue.
He said, however, that Indonesia expected the international community to act swiftly to find solutions that would alleviate the burden of the government and the Indonesian people involved in rescuing and caring for the stranded migrants.
"Even as the meeting shows its appreciation for Indonesia's efforts, we expect the [international] community to speed up the process of finding a solution in order to prevent any protracted debates that would only become a burden to the country," he said.
Dicky said the meeting touched on three main topics: immediate responses, comprehensive preventive measures and the identification of root causes.
In the end, the conference produced a summarizing document that included a 17-point recommendation, the majority of which Indonesia had already achieved ' especially in terms of immediate response, Dicky said.
"There weren't any new medium-term and long-term actions to pursue as all of it had been previously identified and implemented in the ASEAN context and in accordance with the Bali Process," he explained.
"Indonesia will continue its humanitarian aid policies. The principle of shared burden and responsibility remains relevant nationally and internationally."
