REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SURABAYA -- Member of the Presidential Advisory Council Hasyim Muzadi has urged the government to discuss the fate of Rohingya asylum seekers currently stranded in Indonesia with Myanmar.
"The most important step is to help them first, for humanitarian sake. We agree to allocate the state budget to the concerned institutions. So, firstly, we should accommodate them and then conduct diplomacy with Myanmar," he remarked, Monday.
"Tell them, hai Myanmar, many of your citizens are now in Indonesia," the former chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), affirmed.
In the meantime, Chairman of the East Java branch of the Ansor Youth Movement Rudi Tri Wachid called on the government to sever diplomatic ties with Myanmar and to recall the Indonesian ambassador to Myanmar.
The United Nations (UN) should also impose sanctions on Myanmar, he categorically stated.
"The humanitarian tragedy of Rohingya ethnic minority is imminent. Thousands of them have lost their lives, and thousand others are adrift, suffering from starvation," he added.
The Rohinga minority should be granted their human rights and protection, he noted.
"The Rohingya tragedy should not be seen as a religious issue because it is more of an ethnic genocide," remarked.
He lauded the governor and people of Aceh for rescuing the Rohingya boat people.
The Indonesian government must save the Rohingya people and treat them as free human beings, he stated.
The Rohingya tragedy is a humanitarian crisis happening in the ASEAN and has drawn the world's attention.
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