The Jakarta Post
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results‘Myanmar is their home’: Retno calls for safe repatriation of Rohingya refugees
Indonesia has rescued and taken in 395 Rohingya people who were adrift at sea on cramped boats.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
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!
Set as preferred source
F
oreign Minister Retno Marsudi has expressed the government’s concern about the increasing number of Rohingya refugees arriving on Indonesia’s shores, calling on other countries in the region to share responsibility for addressing the core issues that led to the crisis.
“In the last two months, Indonesia received almost 400 boat people of Rohingya ethnicity. […] Myanmar is their home, so a voluntary, safe and dignified repatriation should be continuously pursued,” Retno said at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) on Saturday.
Indonesia has rescued and taken in 395 Rohingya people who were adrift at sea on cramped boats. The first group was rescued by fishermen in Aceh on June 24, and the second arrived on Sept. 7.
Of the 296 refugees in the second group, 105 are men and 191 are women. They are mostly under 18.
“Based on preliminary information, we have found that they came from a camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, 119 of them claiming to have refugee status from the UNHCR [United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]. This will be verified directly by UNHCR Indonesia,” Retno said.
She reiterated that Indonesia’s decision to temporarily accommodate the refugees was based on humanity and overcoming the emergency situation. The refugees had been adrift at sea for seven months, after being pushed away by other countries.
“We also received reports that there were three refugees who died [after being rescued]. Presumably due to fatigue, beriberi [thiamine deficiency] and weakened bodily conditions as a result of long sea voyages,” Retno said, adding that health authorities had found no evidence that the three deceased refugees had suffered from COVID-19.
