UPDATED ON:
Friday, January 23, 2009
09:20 Mecca time, 06:20 GMT
News Asia-Pacific
Indonesia denies Rohingya asylum
Indonesia says the Rohingya are economic migrants, not political asylum seekers
[Reuters]
Indonesia has refused to grant political asylum to 193 migrants from Myanmar
and Bangladesh who are being held at a navy base after they were found stranded
off the country's western coast.
Most of the group identified themselves as the Rohingya - a Muslim ethnic group
from Myanmar.
The all-male group of Rohingya Muslims has been held at a naval base in the
island of Sabang in the province of Aceh since their wooden boat was found on
January 7.
The migrants were found floating in an 11-metre wooden boat without food or
water, officials said.
Hassan Wirajuda, the foreign minister, said on Friday that the people are
economic migrants and not political asylum seekers.
But according to Human Rights Watch, more than 250,000 Rohingyas fled Myanmar
to Bangladesh in 1992 amid a campaign of persecution and what many have
labelled "ethnic cleansing" on the part of the government in Naypyidaw.
Wirajuda also said the Indonesian government is working with their countries of
origin and the International Organisation for Migration to properly repatriate
the migrants.
But it is not clear if they will be sent to Myanmar or Bangladesh.
Perilous journey
Shortly after their arrival on Sabang, Imam Husen, one of the migrants, told
the Reuters news agency from his hospital bed that he and about 580 other
people had set off from Mundu in Myanmar in four boats on December 9 to flee
the country.
He said some members of the group had been beaten after landing in Thailand.
They were then towed out to sea and set adrift.
According to Wirajuda, citing accounts by the navy, many died on the trip to
Indonesia during which they had to stand because the boat was so cramped.
Imam Husen's testimony corroborates reports from a Rohingya human-rights group
and Indian police reports from other Rohingyas found adrift near the Andaman
Islands that Thai security forces towed 992 people out to sea and abandoned
them in engine-less boats.
The Arakan Project, a Rohingya non-governmental organisation, estimates that
550 of the 992 are missing, feared drowned.
Colonel Manas Kongpan of the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) denied
on Tuesday any abuse, saying that all the migrants who arrived in Thailand were
sent out to sea with food and water.
UN demand
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has asked Thailand
for access to 80 Rohingyas it believes are still in custody on a remote island
called Koh Sai Daeng.
The Thai navy claims it gave the migrants food and water [AFP]
Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Thai prime minister, has promised to investigate the
allegations and co-operate with the UNHCR, although the refugee body said that
as of Thursday, there had been no formal approach from Bangkok.
He also said any Rohingyas in Thailand would be treated as illegal immigrants
and repatriated.
"We have to send them back," he said after chairing a National Security Council
meeting.
"We are discussing this, which will require briefing ambassadors of various
countries to find a solution."
About 28,000 Rohingyas recognised as refugees are living in UNHCR camps in
Bangladesh.
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Jusfiq Hadjar gelar Sutan Maradjo Lelo
Allah yang disembah orang Islam tipikal dan yang digambarkan oleh al-Mushaf itu
dungu, buas, kejam, keji, ganas, zalim lagi biadab hanyalah Allah fiktif.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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