REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- It is possible that the Rohingya refugee issue emerged following Indonesia's operations against illegal fishing activities, Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Susi Pudjiastuti said here on Tuesday.

"I believe that the arrival of Rohingya refugees in Aceh was not an exclusive issue but was linked to our operations to fight illegal fishing," she stated during a meeting with Commission IV, which oversees the fisheries and marine resources sector, of the House of Representatives.

The minister added that it was not impossible that the Rohingya refugees were in fact workers of the fisheries industry in Thailand.

As the industry incurred losses due to Indonesia's operations against illegal fishing, it is possible that they (the Rohingyas) were released in large numbers, she pointed out.

"This is my personal assessment. I have asked several quarters to follow it up," Pudjiastuti remarked.

Moreover, member of Commission IV Muzammil Yusuf has asked the minister to not maintain this view.

Several quarters, including members of the Indonesian parliament, visited Myanmar, he stated, adding that the international community had also confirmed that the Rohingya crisis was a result of the Myanmarese government denying them citizenship.

In addition, the politician from the Islamic Prosperous and Justice Party (PKS) urged all sides to empathize with the Rohingya refugees with a sense of humanity.

"Do not trivialize the problem with a mere assessment that they may have been driven away by Thailand," he emphasized.

Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had affirmed that the Indonesian government will continue to conduct search and rescue operations to find Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees who might still be drifting in the country's waters.

"As part of the joint statement from Putrajaya (Malaysia), we will continue to conduct search and rescue operations in our waters. We are still making efforts to save refugees who may possibly be adrift in the waters even now," Director of International Security and Armament of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Andy Rachmianto said here on Thursday, June 4.

Rachmianto added that Indonesia and Malaysia had agreed to accept some 7,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees believed to be still at sea.

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