The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has signed a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that will allow them to work together in improving advocacy and human rights protection for refugees and asylum seekers currently in Indonesia.

The new agreement aims to improve the efforts of Komnas HAM and the UNHCR in handling refugees landing on Indonesian soil.

Several clauses within the agreement touch on the issue of finding alternative solutions to immigration detention centers, better protection for children, an improved birth record mechanism and protection for families of refugees.

UNHCR senior regional protection advisor and UNHCR representative to Indonesia Thomas Vargas said that cooperation between Komnas HAM and the UN body was crucial in preventing discrimination against refugees, asylum seekers or displaced persons in Indonesia.

'€œWith this agreement, we are expanding the breadth of human rights protection for refugees in Indonesia. Human rights are a universal right regardless of ethnicity or nationality. We hope that this collaboration will increase the quality of protection for all refugees here,'€ Vargas said at the Komnas HAM office
on Tuesday.

At the event, Vargas also praised the Aceh regional government for its efforts in handling the influx of Rohingya refugees landing on Aceh'€™s shores earlier this year, saying that it served as an example of what should be done by all countries in receiving refugees on their shores.

As of June this year, the UNHCR recorded 5,277 refugees and 7,911 asylum seekers living in Indonesia, originating from various troubled regions such as Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Iraq and Myanmar.

Komnas HAM chairman Nur Kholis said that the refugee problem was too complex to be tackled alone by the commission, despite their best efforts.

'€œOur hope for this agreement is that refugee welfare in Indonesia can be handled together, which will increase the quality and prevent possible human rights violations from happening again to the refugees and asylum seekers,'€ he added.

Nur Kholis said that Indonesia'€™s response to the Rohingya refugee crisis was probably unsustainable as the government had not set any concrete plans for the refugees, who primarily fled persecution and economic hardship in Myanmar.

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