TEMPO.CO, Banda Aceh – The Acehnese for Solidarity for Humanities and Peace (ASHP) has sent a letter to the UN Security Council on the fate of Rohingya refugees stranded in the province. Similar letters have also been sent to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; and President Joko Widodo.
ASHP spokesperson Wirduna Tripa said the letter had been sent via state-owned postal firm PT Pos Indonesia in Banda Aceh to the UN representatives in Jakarta to be forwarded to the Council in New York, the United States.
In the letter, the ASHP called on the UN to urge the Burmese government to stop the crimes against humanity targeting the Rohingyas that had lasted since 1962. “The UN must actively seek solutions to resolve the minority ethnic Rohingya issues,” Wirduna said on Wednesday, May 20, 2015.
The ASHP also asked Muslim countries across the globe to pressure the UN and the Burmese government to stem the problem.
In its letter to President Jokowi, the ASHP appealed to the president to shelter the Rohingyas on the country’s islands and provide them with similar aid rendered to the refugees of the Vietnam War, which included, among others, education, health services and life protection.
Wirduna said the Rohingya problem would linger on the absence of immediate solutions. In the past 11 days, an estimated 1,300 Rohingyas have reached the shores of Aceh and North Sumatra.
ADI WARSIDI