TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian government is currently investigating the suspected link between human trafficking and the increasing number of Rohingya refugee arrivals in several countries, including Indonesia, Vice President Ma'ruf Amin said on Monday.

"We are figuring out why they are arriving here. Indonesia is not their destination country, but a kind of transit point, and we found suspected human trafficking. Now, this must be prevented before it becomes a problem that continues in the future," he added.

Amin said that human trafficking must be prevented so that the issue of Rohingya refugees does not become a long-term problem.

He pointed out that Indonesia is not a party to the 1952 United Nations (UN) Refugee Convention.

Amin said that in handling Rohingya refugees, the Indonesian government is continuing to coordinate with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in finding shelters so that Rohingya arrivals do not interfere with the lives of locals, in addition to carrying out trafficking prevention efforts.

"We are also preventing possible attempts to bring in Rohingya refugees by trafficking syndicates that are allegedly behind the Rohingya arrivals. We will be closely monitoring this," he added.

He explained that the government's decision to take in the Rohingya refugees is based on humanitarian grounds.

"But it requires significant costs, therefore, we are coordinating with UNHCR, whose mandate includes supporting refugees," he added.

Meanwhile, the Banda Aceh Police has arrested and named an ethnic Rohingya, Muhammed Amin, as a suspect in an alleged case of human smuggling to Indonesia.

Suspect Muhammad Amin (center, orange shirt) is escorted by personnel from the Banda Aceh Police Criminal Investigation Unit during the announcement of a human trafficking case in Banda Aceh, Monday, December 18, 2023. Banda Aceh Police named Rohingya ethnic immigrant Muhammad Amin (35) as the suspect who smuggled 136 Rohingya refugees into shelter camps. Coxs Bazar Bangladesh to Lamreh Village, Aceh Besar Regency. ANTARA FOTO/Irwansyah Putra

"The suspect, 35 years old, is from Myanmar. He is a refugee from Camp 1 Blok H-88 Kutupalum, a Rohingya shelter in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh," the chief of Banda Aceh Police, Police Chief Commissioner Fahmi Irwan Ramli, said on Monday.

ANTARA

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