Indonesia's Retno Marsudi to Discuss Rohingya Refugees in Geneva

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi affirmed that she will speak about Rohingya refugees during the Global Refugee Forum 2023 on Wednesday, Dec. 13 local time. The forum will be held until Dec. 15 at the Palexpo Building in Geneva, Switzerland.

The forum is the world's biggest forum on refugees, initiated by five countries, namely Colombia, France, Japan, Jordan, and Uganda. The UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) and the government of Switzerland will host the forum.

Thousands of Rohingyas arrived in Aceh in phases by boats from Myanmar to seek asylums in Indonesia. The arrival of these refugees is faced with rejection by Aceh locals.

Since last month, the Foreign Ministry has stated that Indonesia is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, sparing it from convention-bound responsibility to accommodate refugees. Indonesia asked party members to the convention to be involved in the process of refugee resettlement of the Rohingyas.

Ministry spokesperson Lalu Muhammad Iqbal mentioned on Tuesday that the process of handling the refugee issues is moving at a slow pace, especially on the issue of resettlement. His side called on the international community and the party members of the 1951 Refugee Convention to resolve the Rohingya refugees issue according to their convention obligation.

"The Indonesian government keeps coordinating with international organizations especially UNHCR and the IOM (International Organization for Migration) to handle this issue. UNHCR has expressed its commitment to provide facilities, manage, and consider resettlement for the refugees," he said.

For now, the government is focusing on the human trafficking and human smuggling issues that occurred simultaneously with the movement of Rohingya refugees.

Indonesia is a party to the convention against transnational organized crimes. Meaning, that despite being a non-party to the refugee convention, Indonesia still bears the responsibility to tackle human trafficking and human smuggling.

"Therefore, the Indonesian government affirmed its commitment to prosecute the perpetrators of human smuggling and trafficking that occurred during the movement of Rohingya refugees to Aceh," Iqbal concluded.

 NABIILA AZZAHRA A.

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