ARNO welcomes the Indonesian call to address the Rohingya problem

ARAKAN ROHINGYA NATIONAL ORGANISATION

ARAKAN, BURMA

Press Release

8th February 2009

ARNO welcomes the Indonesian call to address the Rohingya problem

Arakan Rohingya National Organisation (ARNO) welcomes the Indonesian Foreign Minister Mr. Hassan Wirajuda's call on the ASEAN countries to work together to address the problem of the boatpeople.

We express our gratitude to the brotherly people and Government of Indonesia for rescuing hundreds of Rohingya and other boatpeople and providing them with temporary refuge, medical treatment and humanitarian assistance.

It is a realistic approach that Mr. Hassan Wirajuda urged the military ruled Burma, to address the factors that made the Rohingya people flee their country in boats to seek asylum in other countries while making aware,"the measures should include putting an end to human rights abuses against minorities, while the boat people must not be physically harmed when on transit in another country or chased out to sea."

It is encouraging that, being a regional as well as an international problem, Indonesia will take all diplomatic measures to resolve the Rohingya refugee problem by increasing cooperation with international organisations like United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) while pointing out, "all the ASEAN countries were bound by the ASEAN Charter which became effective on December 15 last year ( 2008), and the principles of the charter included upholding international law with respect to human rights, social justice and multilateral trade, besides emphasizing regional cooperation."

It may be mentioned that Rohingya problem is a long standing problem of religious, ethnic and political persecution by the Burmese regime with intent to rid Arakan of the Muslim population. Nearly half of Rohingya population of about 1.5 million are in Diaspora. Those who are at home are in sub-human condition facing crimes against humanity.

We hope the forthcoming ASEAN meeting in Bangkok will address the root causes of the long standing 'Rohingya problem' including the issues of the boatpeople, to find out for a 'permanent solution'.

For more information contact:

Nurul Islam

AFK Jilani

Email: info@rohingya.org,

www.rohingya.org