BURMESE AND BANGLADESHI REFUGEES IN ACEH

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 000052 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EAP, EAP/MLS, EAP/MTS, EAP/RSP, DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/20/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF ID SUBJECT: BURMESE AND BANGLADESHI REFUGEES IN ACEH REF: JAKARTA 39 Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). ¶1. (U) This message was coordinated with Consulate Medan. ¶2. (C) SUMMARY: Over 190 Burmese and Bangladeshi refugees continue to be housed in an Indonesian military camp in Sabang off the coast of Aceh in north-western Sumatra Island. The GOI is reviewing what to do about the refugees who were rescued last week after their boat broke down. Mission has been in touch with the GOI and UNHCR about the situation. END SUMMARY. ¶3. (C) HOUSED OFF SUMATRA: The 177 Burmese and 16 Bangladeshi nationals continue to be housed at an Indonesian naval base located on Wei island at the Sabang Naval Base in northern Sumatra. Indications are that the refugees were heading to Malaysia. Consulate Medan officer spoke to contacts who said the refugees' boat encountered a Thailand Navy patrol boat and then fled to deeper waters in an effort to escape detection. Rough seas incapacitated the boat, which was eventually rescued by fishermen. ¶4. (C) Contacts report that the refugees are all Muslim males, most aged between 25 to their early 40s. The GOI has granted the refugees medical care and some have been taken to hospitals in the region. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has been providing blankets and other supplies to the refugees via the Indonesian chapter of the Red Crescent/Red Cross. ¶5. (C) UN NOT INVOLVED YET: A contact at the Jakarta office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) told poloff that it has not yet been contacted by Indonesian officials to assist in the situation. The UNHCR has been in contact with Indonesian Immigration officials in order to monitor the refugees' condition, however. In previous cases, the GOI has given the UNHCR permission to interview and adjudicate Burmese refugee asylum claims. ¶6. (C) GOI REACTION: On January 12, Pol/C spoke with Tri Sukma "Nanu" Djamdam, an advisor to President Yodhoyono. Djamdam said the GOI is reviewing the cases and will take appropriate action after it thoroughly investigates the refugees' claims. He said the Burmese nationals appear to be members of the Rohingya ethnic group. ¶7. (C) Poloff also raised the situation with the Southeast Asia Desk at the Indonesian Department of Foreign Affairs (DEPLU). Officials told poloff that DEPLU officers had met with the refugees and that the GOI was reviewing the matter. No decision had yet been made on how to handle them, although the GOI continues to hold interagency meetings focused on the issue. Indonesian parliamentarians are scheduled to visit the refugees soon, according to press reports. HEFFERN