REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, By: Idealisa Masyrafina/[email protected]
So far, nothing new from the Bangkok meeting that discussed the crisis of Southeast Asian immigrants on Friday, May 29. On the meeting, Myanmar delegation criticized the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for the call to recognize Rohingya Muslim minority as citizens.
"In the illegal migration issue of boat people, you cannot accuse my country," Myanmar delegation, Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Htin Lynn said in response to the UNHCR request, on Friday, May 29.
The meeting was attended by high-ranking officials from 17 Asian countries, the USA and Japan as well as UNHCR and IOM (International Organization for Migration). UNHCR high commissioner assistant for protection, Volker Turk, urged Myanmar to handle the flow of Rohingya to other countries.
"Myanmar has to takes full responsibility for all his people," he said.
At least, more than three thousand migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar had been landed in Indonesia and Malaysia since Thailand conducted a crackdown on human trafficking group. Around 2,600 migrants believed to be still on board and bobbing in the ocean in vulnerable conditions. They need urgent rescue.
"We have to save lives, this is urgent," Assistant of Ministry of Foreign Affairs United States, Anne Richard said on his way to a meeting at the hotel in Bangkok, as reported by Reuters on Friday, May 29.
Unfortunately, Myanmar, the origin country of many migrants insisted that they did not have a plan to reach agreement on the Rohingya at the Bangkok meeting.
The migrant crisis erupted at the beginning of the month when Thailand did crackdown to the group of migrant smugglers along the border with Malaysia. It made human traffickers feel unsafe and risky for landing migrants in the area. This prompted thousands of migrants to the boat and sail in the sea with makeshift equipment.
In response, the US has asked Thailand to conduct aerial surveillance to identify ships suspected of carrying migrants as has been done by US and Malaysia. However, the request has not been approved by the Government of Thailand.
US and UN said, deadly pattern of migration in Bengal Bay will continue to occur unless Myanmar to stop discrimination against the Rohingya. However, Myanmar refused to give citizenship to 1.3 million Rohingyas and do not accept them as one of the official ethnic minorities. Myanmar referred to them as "Bengalis" - short for migrants from neighboring country Bangladesh.
Myanmar delegation even called Volker’s comment was politicization on immigrant issues. For them, the issue of Rohingya is a problem of their own country. This issue begins since mass clashes in 2012 between the Rohingya and Buddhist majority in Rakhine province.
Commissioner of Commission for the Protection of Human Rights (HAM) Manager Nasution said that the action taken by the government of Myanmar and the monk Ashin Wirathu against ethnic Rohingya is a form of genocide.
Manager said, the crime is severely prohibited in the world. "Action against the Myanmar Rohingya Muslims is strongly suspected as one form of serious human rights violations, namely genocide," Manager said in Jakarta, on Friday, May 29.
Nevertheless, human rights activists Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, did not do anything to avoid human rights violations on Rohingya refugees as Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader urged her to do something to end persecution of Rohingya.
"This is very sad. In the case of Myanmar, I hope that Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate, can do something," the Dalai Lama told The Australian newspaper on Thursday, May 28.
Meanwhile, the Rohingya refugees residing in Kuala Cangkoi TPI region, planned to be moved to a more appropriate place in Aceh Utara, Aceh Province. The plan arose because the current place has a lot of limitations. In the new place, immigrants would be easily monitored to provide appropriateness for refugees.
Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika
