Year ender - ASEAN's concrete actions paramount to ending prolonged misery of Rohingya by Fardah

Jakarta Des 25, 2020 (ANTARA) - Some 399 Rohingya boat people, including women and children, were stranded in Aceh, Indonesia's westernmost province, in 2020, after being denied entry into Malaysia, the preferred destination, over concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The refugees, adrift in the middle of the sea for weeks aboard damaged boats, were rescued by Aceh fishermen. 

Currently, 364 of them remain in Aceh, as 31 had escaped in order to reach Malaysia, which shares its marine border with Aceh, while four had died in the Aceh refugee camp.

Indonesia currently hosts over 900 Rohingya human trafficking victims, who have become refugees on the high seas.

The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority in Myanmar that have faced persecution at the hands of the Buddhist majority for decades. In fact, the UN reports show that Rohingya are the most persecuted minority in the world.

In May 2015, the Rohingya refugee crisis had grabbed international headlines when tens of thousands of Rohingya fled from genocide in Myanmar in overcrowded boats heading toward Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Facing a genocide in their hometown of Rakhine State, Myanmar, nearly one million of them fled to the neighboring country, Bangladesh, in 2017, and were accommodated in the Cox’s Bazar refugee camp, the biggest refugee camp in the world today.

Their tragedy continues unabated, as the Rohingya refugee crisis has become a ripe ground for human trafficking since they were moved to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal, which could be inundated by a single strike from a cyclone. 

Since January 2020, at least 2,400 refugees took to boats in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR. 

Some 36 percent of the refugees are children. The vast majority are Rohingya people leaving from camps in Bangladesh – many of them victims of human trafficking – who had earlier fled violence and persecution in Myanmar. 

Conditions on the boats are appalling, with a dearth of food and water and zilch healthcare, while survivors spoke of beatings and other abuse by traffickers on board.

Even in Aceh, they remain prone to the human trafficking network. Last November, the North Aceh District Military Command had thwarted an attempt of 14 Rohingya refugees to flee a temporary refugee camp at the vocational training center in Meunasah Mee Kandang Village, Lhokseumawe.

The military personnel also arrested eight suspected members of a human trafficking ring allegedly smuggling Rohingya immigrants into Aceh, according to spokesman for Aceh’s Rohingya Handling Task Force Lieutenant Colonel Am Oke Krisyanto.

The Rohingya misery has lingered on, as the Myanmar Government has allowed the atrocities to continue, while other ASEAN member countries could not stop it due to the regional grouping’s principle of non-interference in the affairs of the 10 member states.

A deep sense of humanity for Rohingya prevails in Aceh by Fardah

Jakarta (ANTARA) , July 1, 2020- The smiles are again back on the faces of Rohingya children after being rescued from a sinking boat and currently being accommodated in an abandoned immigration building in Blang Mangat, Lhokseumawe, Aceh.

The 35 Rohingya children are part of the total 100 Rohingya refugees, who were rescued by three Aceh fishermen -- Faisal, Abdul Aziz, and Raja -- on hearing their audible cries after their damaged boat began sinking in the Malacca Strait waters. 

The three fishermen moved the refugees, including 48 women, to another boat and pulled them near the North Aceh shore on June 24, 2020.

The local authorities, petrified of the spread of the COVID-19 disease, prevented the refugees from disembarking and pushed the boat back to sea after giving them food and drinking water.

The local villagers were moved at witnessing the plight of children and women crying for help while their boat was pushed back from Lancok Beach in Syantalira Bayu Sub-district, North Aceh District, and attempted to reason with several officers. They insisted that the refugees be allowed to disembark on Aceh land.

In the afternoon of June 25, amid extreme weather, strong winds, and dark cloudy skies, several villagers took it upon themselves to evacuate the refugees without awaiting the authorities’ approval.

“We will pull the boat back and feed them here,” Nasruddin, one of the villagers, stated.

With a strong sense of humanity and empathy, the villagers took the bold move, as there were infants, children, and old women aboard the boat. 

REJECTING TO HELP ROHINGYA AKIN TO REJECTING ASEAN COMMUNITY by Fardah

Jakarta, 16/5/2020 (Antara) - The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has again placed the Rohingya under the media spotlight, as several ASEAN members are refusing helpless Rohingyas aboard boats from landing on their lands on pretext of the disease outbreak.
On April 16, 2020, the Malaysian navy had intercepted a boat, carrying aboard some 200 Rohingya refugees, off the coast of Malaysia and prevented it from entering the Malaysian waters.
Bangladeshi coast guards had earlier intercepted another boatload of refugees that, the survivors averred, had been turned away from the Malaysian waters almost two months earlier. A total of 382 starving Rohingya refugees were taken off the boat, and survivors reported that at least 30 people onboard had died before the rescue.
Following those incidents and fueled by misinformation, fake news, and provocations, the rising hostility towards refugees in Malaysia surfaced through several anti-Rohingya petitions and hate speeches on social media.
The COVID-19 pandemic does not create a justification for risking the lives of refugees on overcrowded boats, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated while expressing its concern.
Malaysias claims to support the rights of Rohingya mean shockingly little when they push desperate refugees back to sea, Phil Robertson, the deputy director of HRWs Asia division, affirmed.
In Indonesia, Acehs waters and air police currently intensified patrolling to stop some 500 Rohingya refugees aboard two boats, reportedly sailing nearby while en route to Malaysia, from making transits on Aceh soil.

GREATER ROLE OF ASEAN EXPECTED IN ADDRESSING ROHINGYA ETHNIC CLEANSING by Fardah

Jakarta,  Nov 15, 2018 (Antara)- A report released by United Nations-appointed investigators in August 2018, underlined the horrific and organized nature of the brutality meted out on civilians in Myanmar's Rakhine state since 2011, as well as Kachin and Shan states.

        The investigation was conducted by  a team called the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, following the mass exodus of more than 700,000 Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh last year - events previously described by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing", according to UN News.

        The investigators - Marzuki Darusman, Radhika Coomaraswamy and Christopher Sidoti - recommended that top military commanders in Myanmar should be investigated and prosecuted for the "gravest" crimes against civilians under international law, including genocide.

        Myanmar has denied most of the allegations in the report.

       The genocide in Rakhine State  is a disgrace to ASEAN as it happens in its own yard, namely Myanmar, one of  the 10 member countries of ASEAN - Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

         During the 33rd ASEAN Summit held in Singapore on Nov 11-15, 2018,  ASEAN called the refugee crisis in Myanmar "a matter of concern" , a rare departure from ASEAN's principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of members.

        "We discussed and received a briefing from Myanmar on the humanitarian situation in Rakhine State, which is a matter of concern," said the chairman's statement from the ASEAN summit held on Nov 13, without mentioning the word "Rohingya," the name of the Muslim minority group fleeing persecution in Myanmar.

ROHINGYA CRISIS BECOMES SPOTLIGHT ON SIDELINES OF 31ST ASEAN SUMMIT by Fardah

Jakarta, Nov 14, 2017 (Antara)- The international media have reported that a draft of the statement to be issued at the end of the 31st ASEAN Summit held in Manila on Nov 13-14, would not mention the ongoing prolonged humanitarian crisis happening in Myanmar's Rakhine State, home to over one million Rohingya ethnic minority.

         This is not a surprise for ASEAN which follows principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of one another. But, individually and in bilateral meetings held on the sidelines of the Manila Summit, Rohingya plight is not totally forgotten.

         During a bilateral meeting held in Manila on Nov 13, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres agreed to the need to immediately address the humanitarian crisis being faced by the Rohingya minority in Rakhine State.

         "If it is not solved (immediately), the crisis could affect regional stability and security. A prolonged crisis could trigger radicalism and even terrorism," President Jokowi said.

         Jokowi and Guterres shared a common concern regarding the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State, where Rohingya people were prosecuted and discriminated.       
    They called for a speedy solution to the problem and for the signing of a memorandum of understanding on repatriation between Myanmar and Bangladesh, the neighboring country that has some 600 thousand Rohingya refugees.

         In September, Guterres said the situation in Rakhine was best described as ethnic cleansing.  
    During the bilateral meeting, Guterres lauded the Indonesian government and people for helping the prosecuted Rohingya people.

         The Indonesian Government has approached the Myanmar Government to return peace in Rakhine, and sent humanitarian aid for the affected communities both in Rakhine and in the border of Bangladesh.

         The Indonesian government will again send humanitarian aid comprising 30 tons of rice, one ton of sugar, 2,004 packages of instant food, 14 thousand blankets, 20 emergency tents, 10 water tanks, 600 packages of family kits, and 900 packages of clothing to Bangladesh.

INDONESIAN PEOPLE, GOVT JOIN HANDS TO HELP ROHINGYA REFUGEES by Fardah

Jakarta, Sept 15, 2017 (Antara) - The humanitarian crisis facing over one million Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State, Myanmar, has moved the Indonesian people and the government, who are making concrete efforts to ease their suffering.

          The Indonesian people, the central government and several local governments, have been working hand in hand to provide assistance to the persecuted and oppressed Rohingyas, including those fleeing their country to neighboring Bangladesh for refuge.

         Over the last two weeks, many Indonesians from all walks of life, including teachers, students, ulemas, local officials, politicians, and professionals, organized fund-raising events to collect donations for the Rohingyas.

          At the bureaucratic level, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno LP Marsudi has been tirelessly communicating with those relevant for a solution to the Rohingya problem. She even went directly to Myanmar and Bangladesh to talk with the leaders there, and those concerned with the handling of the humanitarian crisis.

          After collecting firsthand information and facts, the minister, under the instruction of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), coordinated the humanitarian aid dispatches, with the cooperation of other ministries and institutions, such as the Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU) and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

         On Sept 13, 2017, at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base, eastern Jakarta, President Jokowi saw off two C-130 Hercules planes of the TNI AU carrying tons of humanitarian assistance for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, which has received some 400 thousand Rohingyas so far.

SOLIDARITY TOWARD ROHINGYA DEMONSTRATED ACROSS INDONESIA by Fardah

Jakarta, Sept 9, 2017 (Antara) - Prayers, protest rallies, and fundraising activities have been organized in many cities across Indonesia to demonstrate solidarity toward oppressed, prosecuted, and discriminated Rohingya ethnic minority in Myanmar.

         A number of regional leaders such as governors, district heads, and mayors prayed and donated funds for Rohingyas. Several of them expressed strong condemnation against the Myanmar regime for allowing genocide and ethnic cleansing to happen in Rakhine.

         The local leaders include West Nusa Tenggara Governor Dr TGH M Zainul Majdi, Jakarta Governor-elect Anies Baswedan, Jambi Governor Zumi Zola, West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan, Banten Governor Wahidin Halim, Central Tapanuli District Head Bakhtiar Ahmad Sibarani Tasikmalaya District Head Uu Ruzhanul Ulum, Banyuwangi District Head Abdullah Azwar, Tasikmalaya Mayor Budi, Padang Mayor, Banda Aceh Aminullah Usman, Makassar Mayor, Grobogan District Head Sri Sumarniand, and Tangerang Mayor Arief R. Wismansyah.

         Jambi Governor Zumi Zola attended prayers for Muslim Rohingyas in Al-Alfallah Grand Mosque, in Jambi, on Sept 8.

         "This is to show the solidarity of Jambi's residents toward our Rohingya brothers and sisters. The Jambi Government strongly condemns the violence against Rohingyas in Myanmar," Zola stated.

         Every religion condemns the crimes against humanity happening in Rakhine, home to some 1 million Rohingya ethnic minority in the Buddhist-majority Myanmar, he noted, adding that the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar was, however, not a religious war. On the occasion, the government also collected donations for Rohingyas.

INDONESIA SENDS STRONG CALLS TO REVOKE SUU KYI'S NOBEL PRIZE by Fardah

 Jakarta, Sept 2, 2017 (Antara)- Indonesian human rights activists, lawmakers, students and politicians, among others voiced a strong outcry to revoke the Nobel Peace Prize from Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, following the violence that killed hundreds of Muslim Rohingyas in Rakhine State.

        Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her "non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights." But, she has been criticized internationally for allowing genocide, discrimination, and violence against Muslim Rohingyas.

         Maneger Nasution, commissioner of the Indonesian Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has urged the Indonesian Government to lead an international solidarity, demanding the revocation of the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Suu Kyi.

        Rohingya ethnic minority has faced crimes against humanity committed by the Myanmar regime systematically, structurally, massively, and widely, he remarked in a statement on Sept 1.

       He urged the Indonesian Government to express its stronger condemnation over the alleged Rohingya genocide in Rakhine State.

        Nasution also asked the government to initiate an international move to take the Myanmar regime to the International Criminal Court. 
   The United Nations (UN) should impose sanction on Myanmar for the crimes against humanity, he stated.

        Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Laureate, had won general elections in Myanmar,  but her leadership fails to stop crimes against humanity on Muslim Rohingyas in her country, he said.

INDONESIAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT MYANMAR FOR HUMANITY'S SAKE by Fardah

Jakarta, Sept 1, 2017 (Antara) - As a humanitarian disaster is happening in Myanmar, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi does not want just to talk and sit, but she has chosen to make some actions for the sake of humanity - the lives of thousands of Muslim Rohingya ethic minority.

        The ongoing humanitarian tragedy in Myanmar's Rakhine State, the home of some one million Rohingyas, has made the minister preoccupied as she has to arrange humanitarian assistance and discuss strategies and measures with her counterparts and high-ranking officials from other countries, to end the crisis in Myanmar, a fellow member country of ASEAN.

          Marsudi had received telephone calls among others from Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, and former UN secretary general Kofi Annan to discuss Indonesia's contribution to implementing the report of the Annan-led Advisory Commission on Rakhine State.
   According to the minister, Annan had expressed hope that Indonesia would help and implement the recommendations issued by the commission.

         Besides, she had also made phone calls to the high ranking officials directly concern about the crisis.

        "Yesterday (Aug 29), we had communicated with three officials, the first being Suu Kyi's security adviser with whom we discussed about the situation in Rakhine," Marsudi revealed.

         The minister also called her Bangladeshi counterpart, as the neighboring countries -- Myanmar and Bangladesh -- should work closely to handle refugees.

        Bangladesh's cooperation is crucial since without good cooperation, it will be difficult to tackle the refugee crisis, she pointed out.

STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST ROHINGYA MINORITY by Fardah

Jakarta, Aug 30, 2017 (Antara) - Rakhine State, home to some one million Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority, has been bleeding again over the last several days following an escalation of tensions triggered by clashes between militants and Myanmar's security forces.

         In its latest report on Aug 28, the office of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi noted that the death toll from clashes between the security forces and Rohingya militants that began on Aug 25, has reached 96, which not only included alleged Rohingya attackers but also 12 security personnel, according to a report by Aljazeera.

         Myanmar's government has accused armed militants from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army for carrying out deadly attacks on police outposts, which sparked the latest violence.

         Since the violence erupted, thousands of Rohingyas, mostly women, children, and elderly, had fled towards Bangladesh, but authorities there refused entry to most of them.

         The Rohingya ethnic group living in Myanmar's Rakhine State is one of the world's most persecuted minority groups, according to a UN report.

         Indonesia has always expressed concern over the problem in Rakhine, where the Muslim Rohingyas  continue to face persecution and atrocities, and several women were raped and children were killed.

         Indonesia, singlehandedly as well as in cooperation with other members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), has been working on measures to help improve the situation in Rakhine, where the Muslim minority have been oppressed and discriminated for years.

INCLUSIVE, CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES FOR IMPROVEMENT OF RAKHINE SITUATION by Fardah

 Jakarta, Jan 24, 2017 (Antara) - Indonesia together with other members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has been working on measures to help improve the situation in Rakhine State in Myanmar where Rohingya Muslim minority having been oppressed and discriminated for years.
          During an Extraordinary Session on the Situation of the Rohingya Muslim Minority in Myanmar, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on January 19, 2017,  OIC member countries' Ministers of Foreign Affairs expressed grave concern at the recent eruption of violence in northern Rakhine that resulted in the loss of innocent lives and displaced tens of thousands of Rohingya people, and called upon the Government of Myanmar to take decisive steps to restore calm to the affected areas.
            The Government of Myanmar should ensure that the security forces act in accordance with the rule of law and that all perpetrators of acts of violence be held accountable, the ministers said in a final communique issued at the conclusion of the meeting.
           The Meeting called on the Government of Myanmar to ensure an inclusive and transparent policy towards ethnic and religious communities, by including the Rohingya Muslim Minority as an integral part of this process and considering them as an ethnic minority, as called for by relevant UN General Assembly and Human Rights Council resolutions
       The OIC Foreign Ministers' Extraordinary Meeting agreed on two outcome documents.
            The first is a resolution on the situation of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar which, among others, calls on the OIC members to provide humanitarian aid and to request the Myanmar government to open up access for humanitarian aid.

INDONESIA LENDS HELPING HAND TO ROHINGYA PROBLEM by Fardah

Jakarta, Dec 15, 2016 (Antara)- Indonesia has expressed concern  over the problem in  Rakhine State in Myanmar, where Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority continuously faces persecution and atrocities.

        Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi conveyed the concern during her meeting with Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyidaw on Dec.6, 2016.

         "Indonesia hoped that condition in the Rakhine State could be normal again with human right protection and respect including the rights of Muslim community there," Retno Marsudi said. 
    The recent bloodshed in November 2016 was the most serious since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine in 2012.

         In late 2012, sectarian violence between Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists had again broken out and claimed about 200 lives and left at least 110,000 displaced in Rakhine. A vast majority of the victims were Rohingya Muslims.

       The 2012 tragedy had prompted the then Indonesian foreign minister Marty Natalegawa to visit Myanmar to get first hand information about the problem there.

        After the conflict in June 2012, the quality of life of the Rohingya ethnic group had been badly affected, particularly because they have no source of income.

        To demonstrate Indonesia's sympathy and solidarity, the Indonesian government had donated US$1 million in humanitarian aid to the victims of the ethnic violence in Rakhine State for the construction of their houses.      

INDONESIANS URGED TO PRAY FOR AND HELP PROSECUTED ROHINGYA by Fardah

Jakarta, Nov 23, 2016 (Antara) - The Rohingya ethnic group living in Myanmar's Rakhine State is one of the world's most persecuted minority groups.

        The United Nations (UN) has acknowledged the tragedy and the world was well aware of it, but Rohingya people have continued to suffer more and more.

        Over 1,200 homes have been razed in villages inhabited by Muslim Rohingya minority living in the Buddhist-majority Myanmar in the past six weeks, the BBC said recently, quoting Human Rights Watch.

         The group has released a batch of new satellite images that showed 820 structures destroyed between November 10 and 18.

         The military is conducting security operations in Rakhine but the government denies it is razing homes.

         A BBC correspondent on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border spoke to fleeing Rohingya families who described what was happening in northern Rakhine as "hell on earth."
    A total of 130 people have been killed in the latest surge of violence in the country, according to the Myanmar army.

       Al Jazeera reported on November 17 that the bloodshed was the most serious since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine in 2012.

         It has exposed a lack of oversight of the military by the seven-month-old administration of Suu Kyi.

         Deeply concerned about the safety and wellbeing of Rohingya civilians, the United Nations entities on Nov 18 urged the Myanmar authorities to take immediate action to address humanitarian and human rights situation.

ROHINGYA ASYLUM SEEKERS TREATED WITH COMPASSION IN ACEH By Fardah Assegaf

 Jakarta, June 24,2015 (Antara) -- Since the issue emerged, the people and government of Aceh Darussalam have sympathized with and shown their solidarity towards Rohingyas by rescuing them from the rough seas and accommodating them in the province.

       Currently, more than a thousand Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar have been provided accommodation in several camps in Aceh, including some 374 children without parents.

        The majority of these children are victims of kidnapping by a group of traffickers, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).   
   The Rohingya minority in Rakine province in Myanmar is described by the United Nations as among the world's most persecuted community.  

ASEAN, UN URGED TO HELP DEAL WITH ROHINGYA CRISIS by Fardah

   Jakarta, May 26, 2015 (Antara)-  The Rohingya crisis has spiraled out of control and affected the Southeast Asian region, with thousands risking their lives and several others dying at sea while attempting to evade prosecution, discrimination, and poverty in Myanmar.

       Currently, more than 1,750 Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees are being accommodated in four temporary shelters in Aceh Darussalam province after being rescued from sea by the local fishermen.

       Of the total, 564 are in Punteut, Blang Mangat sub-district, in Lhokseumawe city, North Aceh; 672 are in Kuala Langksa, Langsa; 476 are in Bireun Bayeun, Rantau Selamat sub-district, East Aceh district; and 47 others are in Aceh Tamiang district.

       The Aceh provincial administration and people have helped to accommodate them, provide them with food and clothing, and have given medical treatment to those who are ill, after being adrift at sea for nearly three months.          

INDONESIA PROVIDES TEMPORARY SHELTERS TO ROHINGYA REFUGEES, INVITES INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION by Fardah

   Jakarta, May 19, 2015 (Antara) - More than 1.5 thousand asylum seekers, mostly Rohingyas from Myanmar and some Bangladeshis, were stranded in Indonesian waters after being adrift for over three months at sea while attempting to reach Malaysia or Australia.

         Some 1,418 asylum seekers are now being accommodated in North Aceh, Langsa, and Aceh Tamiang Districts in Aceh Province, and 96 others in Langkat District, North Sumatra Province.

        The migrants, including women and children, were suffering from severe dehydration and starvation when they were rescued by the local fishermen. Several of them have been admitted to the local health community centers for intensive medical treatment.

          According to Reuters, some 25 thousand migrants, mainly Rohingyas and few Bangladeshi, fled their countries on boats in the first three months of this year, with several of them being smuggled or trafficked to Thailand and being held in camps until they paid to reach the Malaysian border.

ROHINGYAS, DISCRIMINATED AGAINST AND UNWANTED IN MYANMAR, OTHER ASEAN NATIONS By Fardah

Jakarta, May 16, 2015 (Antara) -- Thousands of Rohingya Muslims aboard wooden boats were stranded at sea for months, trying to escape the poverty and discrimination they faced in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, their own country that does not want them.

       On May 15, 2015, some 648 Rohingya asylum-seekers were found stranded in the Malacca Strait some 20 miles from Pusong Beach, East Aceh district, Aceh Darussalam province, and were finally rescued by local fishermen.

       They fled their homeland aboard two vessels. After one of them sank, all the refugees on board the boat were transferred to the barge.

        When the refugees were found by some local fishermen, they were found suffering from severe dehydration and starvation as they had been floating aboard the barge for many days before being rescued. 

INDONESIA SHOULD PLAY LEADING ROLE IN SOLVING ROHINGYA PROBLEM: EXPERT

by Fardah
    Singapore, Dec 14 (Antara) - Indonesia should play a leading role in solving the problem of Myanmar's Rohingya minority by integrating the Jakarta Declaration and Bali Process, said Rafendi Djamin, Indonesia's Representative to ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights.

         "The humanitarian situation, including the stateless status of Rohingya, must be addressed, and their basic human rights must be protected. They must be able to meet their medical needs and have opportunities to work, for instance," Djamin told ASEAN journalists, during a workshop on Reporting on Regional Integration and ASEAN, here on Saturday.

MYANMAR MUST STOP ESCALATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST ROHINGYA: ACTIVIST

by Fardah
   Singapore, Dec 14 (Antara)- The Myanmar government must stop the escalation of violence against the Rohingya minority because it is dangerous and could develop into genocide, Rafendi Djamin, a noted Indonesian human rights activist, said.

       "The human rights situation in Myanmar is regressing because the government and politicians let the escalation of violence continue against the Rohingya people," Djamin, Indonesia's representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), said on the sidelines of a workshop entitled Reporting on Regional Integration and ASEAN, here on Saturday.

SPILL-OVER EFFECTS OF ROHINGYA ISSUE ON INDONESIA by Fardah

     Jakarta, April 8, 2013 (Antara) - As the tension has escalated in Myanmar due to sectarian conflicts between two different ethnic groups, more refugees were flowing out of the country by boats and some of them were stranded in other ASEAN member nations including in Indonesia.

         Over the past two days (April 7 and 8, 2013), the Indonesian authorities had detained Myanmarese refugees respectively on Sumatra and Java Islands for illegal entry into the Indonesian waters, although their intended destinations were actually Australia and Malaysia.