Jokowi Says Indonesia to Temporarily Shelter Rohingya Refugees

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo confirmed that the government is providing temporary assistance to Rohingya refugees in Aceh Province while prioritizing the needs of the local people.

More than 100 Rohingya refugees, including women and children, landed in the country’s westernmost province on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023. Their arrival which marked the largest wave of arrivals since 2015, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), was greeted with rejection by locals. 

Over the years, many of the Rohingya ethnic Muslim group, a persecuted minority in Myanmar, have fled on rickety wooden boats to Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.

“We are accommodating them temporarily,” the President said Monday, Dec. 11, in Pademangan District, North Jakarta.

However, he did not elaborate on where the refugees would be accommodated, stressing that the government was still discussing the matter with international organizations including the UNHCR.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud Md has been tasked with resolving the issue of Rohingya refugees entering Indonesia. In a statement in Jakarta on Tuesday evening, Dec. 5, Mahfud said there were already 1,478 Rohingya refugees.

Indonesia is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, which requires signatories to protect refugees on their territory. There were 146 parties to the Convention and 147 to the Protocol.

In a press statement at the Jakarta Merdeka Palace, on Friday, Dec. 8, Jokowi expressed his suspicion that human trafficking was behind the recent surge in Rohingya boat arrivals and stressed that the government would not sit idly by yet stopped short of providing further details.

DANIEL A. FAJRI | EKO ARI WIBOWO | AFP

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