TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - There are at least two things the Indonesian government needs to consider in the context of the Qatar crisis. Firstly, there are 43,000 Indonesians in that country, with around 38,000 of them being migrant workers. Secondly, Qatar is the largest exporter of gas to Indonesia. The dispute in the Middle East could potentially result in 50,000 fewer foreign tourists coming to Indonesia because of the loss of flights from Qatar.
This crisis broke out after seven nations in the Arab Coalition cut diplomatic ties with Qatar last week. The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Libya, Egypt and Yemen, together with the Maldives, accuse Qatar of disturbing the security of the Gulf region by supporting militant groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda. The praise for Iran as an Islamic power expressed by Qatari Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin al-Thani, and the support for Hamas and Al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun took relations between Qatar and its seven neighbors to a low point.
This has caused alarm in Qatar. All road and air links have been cut, even though 80 percent of Qatar's food is supplied by its neighbors by land and air. Only sea routes are still open, and these are in international waters. The Qatari government has strongly denied the charges and has condemned the isolation of the country. But the blockade continues. Efforts at reconciliation have so far been met with anger and rejection.
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution has insisted the dispute in the Middle East will have no significant impact on Indonesia's economy because our main trading partners are not in the Middle East, but in Asia, including Japan, China and Korea, and in the USA and Europe. Qatari gas is transported to Indonesia by sea a route not affected by the blockadeso it can continue as normal. But the crisis will undoubtedly lead to a rise in oil and gas prices, making our imports more expensive.
According to the Central Statistics Agency, in 2016 Indonesian imports of Qatari gas totaled US$738 million, or more than Rp9.75 trillion. If the crisis continues, exports of Indonesian commodities to Qatar are bound to fall, and Indonesia's trade deficit, which stood at almost US$150 million in the first quarter of 2017, will worsen.
Relations between Indonesia and Qatar, like those with other Gulf nations, are strengthened by Indonesian migrant workers. According to the National Migrant Worker Placement Agency, as of April, there were 37,961 migrant workers in Qatar. Migrant Care Indonesia, an organization protecting the rights of migrant workers, says the figure is higher: more than 70,000.
Therefore, we should not underestimate the seriousness of a crisis in a faraway nation so closely linked with us through migrant workers and trade ties. Indonesia's willingness to act as a mediator, as conveyed by Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, also needs to be "translated" into something more concrete.
Indonesia is in a "primordial" position that could be beneficial in diplomatic endeavors to calm things down in the Middle East. A conciliatory approach through dialogue is far better than cutting ties or imposing a blockade, let alone the worst outcome: war.(*)
Read the full story in this week’s edition of Tempo English Magazine
