I

magine a Rohingya woman living in Myanmar with three children, desperate to reach her husband in Malaysia.

With no travel documents and no nationality, she has no choice but to get on a smuggler'€™s boat with hundreds of others in similar situations. Her boat is abandoned by the smugglers and drifts at sea for months.

Some countries provide food and water, but the boat continues to drift aimlessly. As supplies and hope run out, the boat starts to sink. They jump into the water and are spotted by nearby Acehnese fishermen who bring them safely to shore.

What sounds like nightmare is a reality for Fatima, a Rohingya refugee who arrived in Indonesia last month and was welcomed, sheltered and assisted by the local authorities and community in Kuala Langsa, Aceh. Her ordeal is not over yet.

In the confusion of the rescue she lost her eldest daughter. Fatima cried for two days straight. After a week, she learned that the girl was rescued by other fishermen and is alive in Kuala Simpang, a nearby regency. Now they have renewed hope to reunite as a whole family with her husband in Malaysia.

Fatima is one of 13,000 refugees and asylum-seekers in Indonesia who fled persecution in more than 40 countries. She and others like her dream of living a normal life again '€” in safety and dignity '€” the type of life that many of us take for granted. Meanwhile like any guest in someone'€™s home, they are expected to respect the laws and traditions of their host country.

In Indonesia, refugees are sometimes mistakenly called '€œillegal migrants'€ simply because they may have entered the country without proper travel or identity documentation, like Fatima. What makes them different from other people on the move? Refugees are forced to flee their home countries literally to save their lives.

Staying could mean getting killed or facing other persecution simply for being who they are, for their beliefs, skin color or religion.

They have no choice but to flee. You and I would do the same under such circumstances.

The confusion between irregular migrants and refugees often leaves refugees open to arrest and prolonged immigration detention.

They are also vulnerable to further exploitation, violence and deprivation by people smugglers or human traffickers. This type of abuse has been tragically witnessed over the last few months with the boat crisis in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

Luckily for Fatima and others like her, Indonesia provides refugees a safe place to stay until a solution can be found for them. This sort of protection is a long-standing practice that reflects the Islamic tradition when the Prophet Muhammad himself was granted refuge in Medina more than 1,000 years ago.

The government protects refugees from being sent to any country where their lives would be in danger, otherwise known as the fundamental principle of non-refoulement.

Situated in the Asia-Pacific region, which hosts some 4.2 million refugees and people in refugee-like situations, Indonesia neighbors countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Australia that host much larger numbers of refugees.

By accepting and protecting refugees, Indonesia shows its solidarity with the international community and shares the responsibility of helping those fleeing conflict and persecution.

As Fatima'€™s example shows, this tradition is all the more important in a region characterized by different groups of people moving on boats who are often subjected to atrocities committed by smugglers and traffickers. Indonesia is actively involved in initiatives exploring comprehensive regional solutions to the growing phenomenon of people fleeing on smugglers'€™ boats.

As millions of refugees throughout Asia hope for solutions, new and long-running conflicts continue to force people to search for safety in the region.

The heroic generosity of the community in Aceh perfectly illustrates that Indonesia'€™s tradition to help people in need of protection is alive and provides an example for other countries in the region to follow.