TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi suspected human trafficking involvement in the flow of Rohingya refugees that landed in Aceh. He stressed that the Indonesian government will not stay idle.

"The Indonesian government will sternly take action against the perpetrators of human trafficking," he said on Friday.

More than 100 Rohingya refugees including women and children landed in Aceh on Saturday, Dec. 2, after last month's 1,000 refugees entered Aceh's beach. This batch of refugees was faced with rejection by locals.

This was the biggest flow of Rohingya refugees in Indonesia since 2015, according to the UN High Commissioner on Refugees or UNHCR. For years, the Rohingya Muslims who were persecuted in Myanmar flew in rickety wooden boats to Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.

The Coordinating Minister of Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud Md has been appointed to handle the issue. On Tuesday evening, Mahfud Md mentioned that there were already 1,478 Rohingyas that landed in Indonesia.

Jokowi said Indonesia would continue coordinating with international organizations to resolve the problem. "Humanitarian aid for now will be given with priority to the interest of the local residents," he said.

Indonesia is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention. Consequently, Indonesia bears no responsibility and capacity to accept refugees, especially to provide them with permanent solutions.

Earlier, the Local Government's Communication Forum of Sabang City, Banda Aceh, asked UNHCR to immediately resettle Rohingya refugees to other refugee camps.

Member of the forum Ady Akmal Shiddiq mentioned that the decision was taken considering the strong rejection from Sabang residents following the second batch of 139 refugees in Tapak Gajah Beach, Sabang City on Dec. 1.

"After 5 hours of discussion, the forum came to a decision to ask UNHCR to immediately resettle the Rohingya refugees outside of Sabang City," Adi said on Monday.

DANIEL A. FAJRI | EKO ARI WIBOWO | AFP

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