 |
| Rohingya refugees are seen in their room at the Training Center House, Krueng Raya, Aceh on April 10, 2013. The predominantly Muslim Rohingya are an ethnic minority group from Rakhine State in western Myanmar who were the target of communal violence last year. A Myanmar law passed in 1982 denies them nationality. (EPA Photo/Hotli Simanjuntak) |
April 14, 2013
Jakarta Globe
Ezra Sihite, Rizky Amelia & Markus Junianto Sihaloho
As ethnic and religious conflict rages against the Rohingya ethnic group
in Myanmar, Indonesia has found itself taking on the role of both
mediator and refuge country.
Aleksius Jemadu, dean of Pelita Harapan University (UPH), said that this
has now become a cross-border problem that includes Indonesia and must
be addressed by Asean.
Aleksius added that the conflict involving the Muslim-majority Rohingya
ethnicity in Buddhist-majority Myanmar is a sensitive issue, but Asean
must take the lead in solving it. According to the Asean Charter, an
important pillar of the Asean community is its inclusiveness of all
religions and ethnicities, he added.
“If Indonesia wishes to become a leader in this instance, it must take the initiative,” he said on Saturday.
Since the influx of asylum-seekers has affected Indonesia, this is now a cross-border issue, Aleksius argued.
He added that the killing of asylum-seekers detained in Medan last week
was an example of what would continue to happen if Indonesia remains
silent on the issue.
The head of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, Eva Kusuma
Sundari, said on Friday that Indonesia was committed to ending ethnic
conflict in Myanmar.
“Indonesia is definitely active in ensuring that reform in Myanmar is
progressing well,” Eva said. “Asean is Indonesia’s baby, and Indonesian
leadership is significant in Asean.”
She explained that the official policy of the Myanmar government is that
the Rohingya are not considered citizens by the Burmese government, and
instead are regarded as a colonial import. For that reason, the
Rohingya are considered stateless, do not have national identity cards
and are treated as immigrants that someday must be returned to
Bangladesh.
That problem has been increased by the fact that the Rohingya are also
mainly Muslim in a Buddhist majority country. “That became an easy
trigger to mobilize hate,” Eva added.
Indonesia has become a layover country for asylum-seekers escaping
Myanmar, but the country itself does not have the adequate legal
framework to deal with the new arrivals.
Ali Akbar Tanjung from the Human Rights Working Group gave the example
that if an asylum-seeker enters Indonesian waters, they must be
accompanied to shore, given a health check and humanitarian support.
Furthermore, the government will help to determine their refugee status.
However, Indonesia does not yet have set rules for the handling of
asylum-seekers, he said.
Ali said that the matter of asylum-seekers is dealt with only briefly in
the Immigration Law and in the regulations for the Directorate General
of Immigration. “What Indonesia needs to do is set some ground rules
[about] how asylum seekers are to be handled once they are in
Indonesia,” Ali said on Friday.
The regulations, Ali said, can be coordinated with the UNHCR, the
International Organization for Migration to ensure that the rights of
asylum-seekers and refugees are met, such as the right to go to school.
Most important is the issue of resettlement. Until now, asylum-seekers
and refugees are held in Indonesia in immigration detention centers
meant for foreigners who have committed a criminal offense in relation
to immigration laws.
Aside from the need for laws governing the handling of refugees,
Indonesia also needs to communicate with nations where they aim to be
resettled. For example, there are many refugees who have already
received refugee status from the UNHCR, but have yet to be relocated to a
third country. They can be waiting for years.
“Our position is that we cannot remain silent here. Indonesia is not the
destination country. This must be communicated with other nations
intended as the resettlement country,” Ali said.
No comments:
Post a Comment