Indonesia has decided to focus its advocacy on the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar and Bangladesh in Southeast Asia.
ix months into its membership at the United Nations Security Council, Indonesia has opted to take a pragmatic approach in handling the most pressing human rights crisis in its backyard amid disunity among the body’s member states.
The UNSC has largely been seen as impotent in protecting and saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims escaping persecution from Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which does not recognize them as citizens despite a long entrenched history in the country.
Some 740,000 fled to neighboring Bangladesh following a 2017 military crackdown that UN investigators say was carried out with “genocidal intent”. Myanmar has denied the allegations and rejected both the UN Human Rights Council’s independent investigative mechanism and the United Nations fact-finding mission.
Growing disunity among Security Council members has further prevented the refugee crisis from being discussed seriously, with China and Russia ready to wield their veto rights to scrap any earnest proposal to address the Myanmar issue.
“This disunity has already [taken hold in the past] but now it is becoming increasingly visible in all issues,” said Grata Endah Werdaningtyas, the Foreign Ministry's director for international security and disarmament. “There used to be some issues that we could still work on together, but that list is shrinking.”
The impasse comes in spite of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ painting of the refugee problem in 2018 as among the world’s worst humanitarian and human rights crises. At the leading body on international peace and security, the Rohingya crisis has only made it once onto the council’s official agenda this year, and without the issuance of a UNSC resolution.
But Indonesia’s approach has generally been on the pragmatic side, focusing on the most immediate action that it could take, Grata said.
Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.
Quickly share this news with your network—keep everyone informed with just a single click!
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Get the best experience—faster access, exclusive features, and a seamless way to stay updated.