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arlier this month, after a Myanmar government-led visit for diplomats to villages in northern Rakhine state, then-Indonesian ambassador to Myanmar Ito Sumardi announced he found no evidence of any mass graves or any indication of acts amounting to ethnic cleansing.

While the outgoing ambassador clarified the observation was made based solely on what he saw firsthand during the state-sponsored visit, Sumardi’s statement failed to address evidence of grave human rights violations by Myanmar security forces that have been well documented by human rights organizations, journalists, and others since the start of a crackdown last August. That crackdown spawned a humanitarian disaster of historic proportions that has killed at least 6,700 Rohingya Muslims, according to Doctors Without Borders, and driven at least 688,000 more into Bangladesh.

By failing to speak to this wider context, the comments appeared to undermine Indonesia’s earlier positive moves in reaction to the Rohingya crisis, letting Myanmar off the hook for its actions. Previously, Indonesia’s approach emphasized engaging in Myanmar through frank discussions about the situation.

For instance, soon after the start of the military crackdown, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi traveled to Myanmar to meet State Counsellor Aung Suu Kyi and military Commander-in-Chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. In discussions with both, she raised Indonesia’s concerns about the crisis and submitted a proposal aimed at restoring stability and preventing further violence. She also made a similar visit at the end of 2016 during an earlier wave of violence affecting the Rohingya in Myanmar that began in October of that year.

More recently, Indonesia has worked to support refugees in Bangladesh. In late January, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo became the first head of state to visit the Rohingya refugee camps in the Cox’s Bazar district. Indonesia was also one of the first countries to dispatch food aid and volunteers to support humanitarian work in the camps, and President Jokowi has pledged to sustain this humanitarian support.

But while such assistance is necessary to respond to refugees’ existing needs, we must not forget that the Rohingya crisis is, at its root, a human rights challenge. The ongoing persecution the Rohingya face in Myanmar includes a range of serious rights abuses, including lack of citizenship, limits to freedom of movement and restrictions on access to basic services like education and healthcare — all of which must be tackled if the crisis is to be addressed.

As a member state of the ASEAN, Indonesia has the chance to take on a coordinating role for the regional bloc and to promote a genuine, holistic approach to addressing the root causes of the crisis and promoting long-term, sustainable solutions. This includes support for the continued implementation of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State’s recommendations, which address some of the key concerns, including access to citizenship, freedom of movement, and livelihoods.

Indonesia should also seize the opportunity to break ASEAN’s tradition of repeatedly invoking the non-interference principle on the Rohingya crisis, and to instead, work to establish a clear strategic action plan that will provide real and tangible solutions to finally put an end to the decades-long cycle of persecution, violence, and displacement. In addition, Indonesia must not shy away from difficult conversations about the Rohingya crisis in direct engagement with Myanmar’s government.

Today, Indonesia remains as one of the few countries in the world that maintains friendly bilateral ties with Myanmar and is able to have frank conversations with both Myanmar’s civilian government and military on the situation in Rakhine.

Particularly as discussions about repatriation continue bilaterally between the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh, Indonesia should work to ensure that no refugees are returned to Myanmar against their will, and that any who do return will not be subject to the same persecution and abuses that led them to flee in the first place. Having visited the refugee camps in Bangladesh, top Indonesian officials, including the Foreign Minister and the President, are in a position to understand the challenges on the ground, as well as the Rohingya refugees’ needs. They should ensure that these refugees’ voices are included in any further discussions of repatriation.

Our country has what it takes to lead ASEAN on this issue and work with Myanmar and resolve the Rohingya crisis. Doing so would help solidify Indonesia’s leading role as a promoter of democracy and human rights in the region. Humanitarian assistance is critical, but it is no substitute for a genuine effort to resolve the drivers at the root of the crisis through dialogue and action at the regional level.

Despite what the Myanmar government has tried to argue, Rohingya are members of the ASEAN Community, and Indonesia must directly confront the abuses that have been committed against them.
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The writer is a board member of the ASEAN Parliament of Human Rights and a lawmaker from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in Commission XI of the House of Representatives in charge of financial affairs.