Ministry Of Foreign Affairs: Refugees Establish Tents At The Setiabudi UNHCR Office Violate The Rules

(Screenshot) - Spokesperson II of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rolliansyah Soemirat

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the actions of refugees from abroad who demonstrated by setting up a tent in front of the United Nations High Commissioners Office for Refugees (UNHCR) in Jakarta violated the rules.

"Refuges from abroad in Indonesia are not above the law. The action to build a tent and stay in front of the UNHCR Office is a violation of Regional Regulations related to Public Order," said Spokesperson for II of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rolliansyah Soemirat, in a statement quoted by ANTARA, Monday, July 1.

Such a violation, according to him, if it is carried out by anyone, including refugees from abroad, can be dealt with according to the provisions and laws in force in Indonesia. ROlliansyah further explained that in handling refugees, Indonesia is not a party state at the 1951 Refugee Convention and its Additional Protocol in 1967.

This means that Indonesia has no obligation to provide handling for refugees and asylum seekers from abroad.

"So far, the assistance provided by Indonesia to refugees has been carried out based on the principles of emergency and humanitarian principles," he said.

Support for refugees is usually provided by international organizations, especially UNHCR, with support from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Indonesia, in accordance with their mandate.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinates this issue with UNHCR and coordinates with the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs as the Head of the Overseas Refugee Handling Task Force for more comprehensive handling of problems.

Separately, the Acting Governor of DKI Jakarta Heru Budi Hartono said he would immediately coordinate with UNHCR regarding the presence of refugees who set up tents in the Kuningan area, South Jakarta.

"We'll talk later. This is a humanitarian issue, so we talked to UNHCR how to make them also accommodated from a human perspective and not interfere," said Heru.

Previously, the Class I Immigration Office for Non-South Jakarta Immigration Checkpoint emphasized that the handling of refugees who made tents in the Kuningan area was the authority of UNHCR.

"From their Immigration, they are not immigration violators, because they have pocketed the UNHCR card," said Head of Immigration Intelligence Section of the Class I Special Immigration Office for Non Immigration Checkpoints (TPI) South Jakarta Bhimsa Sanlito when contacted in Jakarta, Saturday (29/6).

Bhimsa said, if they are proven to have violated the immigration rules, then the immigration authorities can easily deport them.

However, they did not enter through TPI from the start because they had been registered by the UNHCR as citizens of conflict countries, the majority of which came from Afghanistan and Iraq.