Govt Must Back UN Resolution on Rohingya

The Jakarta Globe
June 1, 2013

A leading Indonesian human rights organization has urged the government to actively support a United Nations initiative for a resolution on the plight of the Rohingya ethnic minority currently facing persecution in Myanmar.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Human Rights Working Group said it was crucial that Indonesia support the initiative at the UN Human Rights Council meeting that began in Geneva on Monday and runs through June 14.

Muhammad Choirul Anam, the HRWG deputy director, said in the statement that there were several reasons for Indonesia backing the proposed resolution, which would call for opening a UN Human Rights Council representative office in Myanmar, among other things.

“First, the Indonesian government has always viewed the Rohingya case as one of human rights and ethnic persecution,” he said, adding that the proposed resolution chimed with Indonesia’s own view of the issue.

“Second, the matter of resolving this issue has become increasingly urgent in light of recent moves by the Myanmar government to stifle the social and cultural rights of the Rohingya.”

Choirul cited a proposal by authorities in the country’s Rakhine state earlier this month calling for a limit of two children for each Rohingya couple. The country’s leading pro-democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi, has condemned the policy as a violation of human rights.

HRWG said another reason for backing the UN resolution on the Rohingya issue was the fact that as Southeast Asia’s biggest country and economy, it was incumbent on Indonesia to take the lead in such matters.

Choirul said Indonesia’s leadership would also help countries in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation see the issue from a human rights perspective rather than a religious one.