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Foreign Ministry responds to Rohingya issue
Even though it is not a party to the convention, Indonesia has accepted, cared for and provided temporary shelter to Rohingya refugees on the basis of humanitarian considerations and has never carried out a pushback or refoulement policy.
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Children and local residents protest against the arrival of Rohingya refugees on Dec. 18, 2023, near a temporary camp where the refugees are staying at a port in Sabang Island, Aceh. The mostly Muslim Rohingya were the target of a 2017 crackdown by Myanmar's military that is the subject of a United Nations genocide probe. Around a million refugees have fled to Bangladesh, and from there thousands risk their lives each year on long and expensive sea journeys to reach Malaysia and Indonesia. (AFP/Chaideer Mahyuddin)
O
n Dec. 18, The Jakarta Post published an editorial titled “The abandoned Rohingya” on its concerns regarding the situation of Rohingya refugees in Aceh. However, it failed to capture my statement in its entirety which could cause a misunderstanding among readers regarding Indonesia's position on this matter.
First, in my statement, I said that strictly, Indonesia is not legally bound by the 1951 Refugee Convention because it is not a state party. Nevertheless, Indonesia is bound by moral and humanitarian obligations.
Therefore, even though it is not a party to the convention, Indonesia has accepted, cared for and provided temporary shelter to Rohingya refugees based on humanitarian considerations and has never carried out a pushback or refoulement policy. At the same time, Indonesia also calls for the international community, especially countries that are party to the convention, to show greater responsibility on this matter.
Second, the Foreign Ministry has never made human trafficking a scapegoat for the Rohingya issue. The ministry stated that the root cause of the problem is conflict in Myanmar and therefore Indonesia is always actively involved in finding a solution for this conflict.
Indonesia and international organizations involved in handling Rohingya refugees found strong indications and evidence of people smuggling and human trafficking in the process of the Rohingya’s migration to Aceh.
Indonesia, as a party to the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo Convention), has legal and moral obligations to prevent, combat and prosecute crimes related to human trafficking. Many Rohingya migrants, especially women and children, are victims of these crimes.
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Spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, Jakarta
