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Indonesia urged to set deadline for resolving Rohingya crisis
Indonesia should consider giving Myanmar a deadline for its efforts to mitigate the violence in Rakhine state and ensure the safe return of Rohingya people who have fled the country — or else consider other options, an Indonesian lawmaker has argued
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span>Indonesia should consider giving Myanmar a deadline for its efforts to mitigate the violence in Rakhine state and ensure the safe return of Rohingya people who have fled the country — or else consider other options, an Indonesian lawmaker has argued.
Myanmar’s short-term goal should be to ensure a cessation of violence as soon as possible, said Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) legislator Sukamta, a member of the House of Representatives commission on foreign affairs and defense.
“There has to be a deadline for this effort, and if the Myanmar government cannot meet it, [Indonesia] should consider tougher diplomatic options,” the politician said during a discussion in Jakarta on Thursday.
He argued that, without a deadline, Myanmar would keep trying to buy time while the massive humanitarian crisis continued to unravel.
Since a Myanmar military crackdown in 2017, more than 730,000 Rohingya people — mostly Muslims — have fled across the border into neighboring Bangladesh to avoid persecution in the Buddhist-majority country.
United Nations investigators said last year that the Myanmar military — known as the Tatmadaw — had responded “with genocidal intent” in what it described as a legitimate counterterror operation against Rohingya rebels, although there was evidence that atrocities had been “perpetrated on a massive scale”.
Rights groups and activists have said that violence in the distraught region continues, although Naypyidaw has denied most of the allegations.
Indonesia has presented itself to Myanmar as an ally, while refraining from angering the military men who effectively run the nation.
Jakarta has also nudged ASEAN to play a more prominent role in the crisis, despite ASEAN’s noninterference principle.
Teuku Faizasyah, the Foreign Minister’s special advisor on politics, security and law, said Indonesia had in the past made use of nonconfrontational approaches in conflict resolution, including in Cambodia and the Philippines, with the aim to build up confidence and trust among neighboring countries.
“We have said that we want to help, but Myanmar must help us help them by showing [political] goodwill, so that the international community can trust them,” he said during Thursday’s discussion.
And while he said no specific timeline had been set, indicators for conflict resolution were clear and included the safe and voluntary return of the Rohingya to Myanmar, which is to be facilitated by the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance.
Renewed conflict in the region had, however, become a problem that continued to hinder the repatriation process.
“We cannot set a deadline, because we also have to be rational about it. If the conditions in the field are not ready, of course we cannot repatriate them,” he said.
“We do emphasize, however, that one of the key indicators of progress is the repatriation itself.”
There has been an escalation of violence in Rakhine since January, when the Arakan Army (AA) insurgency began trading barbs with the Tatmadaw, AFP reports.
The AA is fighting for more autonomy for ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, complicating the situation in a region already split along sectarian lines.
Myanmar’s ambassador to Indonesia was not immediately available for comment.
