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View all search resultsMyanmar coup flags potential refugee influx to Indonesia
It indicates that the regulation was drafted under the influence of a national security perspective, not humanitarian and human rights considerations.
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T
he recent military coup marks a crisis of democracy in Myanmar, which will have an impact on the global and regional political landscape. For Indonesia, the coup serves as a warning of a potential influx of refugees, especially of the Rohingya ethnic minority, who may flee the country for safety.
The Indonesian government should strengthen its refugee acceptance policy and provide sufficient protection of refugee’s fundamental rights as a part of its commitment to humanity.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) monthly Statistical Report on Indonesia published in December 2020, Indonesia is a host for 13,743 refugees and asylum seekers. Myanmar accounts for the third-largest number of refugees in Indonesia, just below Somalia and Afghanistan. Many Myanmar refugees in Indonesia belong to the Rohingya ethnic group, one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.
SUAKA Indonesia documented in a study titled Barely Living three major influxes of Rohingya refugees to Indonesia in 2009, 2012 and 2015. The biggest exodus happened in 2015, involving about 1,500 people, comprising Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees. They were saved by fishermen in Aceh after floating at sea for days.
This incident is now remembered as the Bay of Bengal Crisis or Andaman Sea Crisis. One year after the human tragedy, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo enacted Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 125/2016 on the handling of foreign refugees.
In 2020, nearly 400 Rohingya refugees who fled persecution in Myanmar were stranded in Aceh after a dangerous journey at sea. They arrived in two waves, including many women and children, aboard broken boats and baffling grief due to the loss of lives during their embarkation.
SUAKA recorded the lack of an immediate response and conformity to the Perpres in saving the Rohingya refugees and protecting their fundamental rights. The regulation as the only legal instrument to deal with foreign refugees turns out to regulate technicalities in accepting refugees when they enter Indonesian territory.
