VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia's strategic position as ASEAN 2023 Chair could be used for a solution to conflict in Myanmar and encourage it to be more democratic and uphold human rights, House's (DPR's) Commission I member, Sukamta, stated.

"Indonesia is currently 'assuming' the responsibility to complete ASEAN's 'homework', namely the Myanmar and Rohingya issues," Sukamta noted here on Thursday.

According to the House of Representatives' member, the Rohingya refugee issue should be resolved by the Indonesian government that currently holds the ASEAN Presidency for 2023.

He said Indonesia's strategic position must be optimized to solve ASEAN issues, especially Myanmar, quickly and accurately so as not to disturb stability of the region's security and economy.

Sukamta explained that the issue of Rohingya refugees in Aceh must also be an important concern.

"When Indonesia pushes to resolve the conflict in the country of origin of the Myanmar Rohingya refugees, the issue of Rohingya refugees stranded in Aceh must also be addressed," he stated.

He said Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 125 of 2016 concerning Handling Refugees from Abroad should be implemented properly.

Sukamta believes this step had to be taken despite Indonesia not having ratified the "Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees" (1951 Convention) and the "Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees" (1967 Protocol).

"However, Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Indonesian Constitution Article 28, letter G, oblige Indonesia to humanize humans by safeguarding human rights," he pointed out.

Quoting data from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) for 2021, he said that nearly 400 Rohingya arrived in Indonesia.

However, currently, the figure is only 112 after many of them escaped from refugee camps and went to their original destination country, Malaysia, illegally.

Sukamta said that the issues of smuggling refugees to Malaysia must be handled seriously, especially by the Directorate General (Ditjen) of Immigration, Ministry of Law and Human Rights.

If refugees without complete immigration documents could easily and widely be smuggled into Malaysia, it would be easier to smuggle Indonesian citizens, who would work illegally in Malaysia, he stated. (Antaranews)

As a maritime country, Indonesia is a center for convection cloud growth, which triggers rainfall and increases the potential for extreme weather, the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) has said.

"Indonesia is on the maritime continent, a relatively high (receiving) energy region where sunlight is perpendicular to the equator, making our region a cloud convection center and produces a lot of rain," BRIN expert and researcher Didi Satiadi said at an online discussion on “Beware of Extreme Weather,” which was followed from here on Wednesday.

The high energy received by the equator region can be released in the form of extreme weather, he added.

"Indonesia tends to have extreme (weather) conditions, especially those related to rain because we are the largest rain producer in the world," he said.

In addition, the atmospheric dynamics on the equator of the maritime continent have also turned Indonesia into an area where atmospheric waves encounter and interact with each other, he added.

"These atmospheric waves can amplify each other, which increases (the potential for) extreme events, but they can also weaken each other so that extreme events do not occur," Satiadi said.

According to him, the complexity of atmospheric dynamics has made the weather in Indonesia difficult to predict.

He also cited global warming as another factor causing extreme weather and climate change. Global warming is increasing due to the excessive use or burning of fossil fuels.

"Climate change basically increases the hydrological cycle because faster means greater evaporation, more intense, heavier rain, wetter, and drier," he explained.

To cope with extreme weather, he suggested that people plant as many trees as possible, reduce the use of fossil-based energy, and switch to new renewable energy sources, such as sunlight, water waves, wind, or dams. (Antaranews)

The Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) of Yogyakarta Province said it would be on standby round the clock as a precautionary measure against extreme weather projected to occur from late 2022 to early 2023.

"We are already on alert, including other disaster elements. We also urge them to increase preparedness through disaster risk reduction forums in Yogyakarta," Operations Control Center (Pusdalops) Manager of Yogyakarta BPBD Lilik Andi Aryanto stated in Yogyakarta on Wednesday.

Aryanto remarked that the increase in preparedness was in response to a circular letter from Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X Number 360/20913 following information from the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) regarding the potential for extreme weather from December 25, 2022, to January 1, 2023.

Aryanto stated that as many as 32 members of the Rapid Reaction Team (TRC) and 25 members of the Yogyakarta BPBD Pusdalops were on standby for 24 hours.

Communities in all disaster-resilient villages in Yogyakarta will also conduct similar preparedness, he added.

Yogyakarta BPBD TRC personnel, through posts spread across five districts and cities had intensified monitoring in several areas potentially affected by disasters, especially floods and landslides, he noted.

Aryanto remarked that from the start until the end of 2022, floods and landslides were dominant disasters that had occurred in the province.

"Gunungkidul and Kulon Progo districts are prone to landslide followed by floods in Bantul and Gunungkidul some time ago," he remarked.

As an effort to anticipate the impact of damage after the disaster occurs, the Yogyakarta BPBD has also coordinated with the Yogyakarta Public Works, Public Housing, and Energy and Mineral Resources Service (PUP-ESDM), he remarked.

"Especially for potential damage to provincial roads, the Public Works Service is ready to be contacted 24 hours," he stated.

Aryanto appealed to the public, especially tourists vacationing in Yogyakarta, to not panic and to actively monitor the latest information from BMKG.

"If it rains heavily, you should avoid river areas and cliffs," he stressed.

In addition, he also urged tourists visiting the south coast to avoid bathing on the beach in anticipation of high waves.

"We urge people, who go to the beach, to obey the officers' advice," he remarked.

Earlier, the BMKG forecast extreme weather conditions, such as heavy rains, strong winds accompanied by lightning and high waves in some parts of Indonesia in late 2022 to early 2023.

Extreme weather conditions during this period are forecast to occur in parts of the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, and Papua.

The BMKG also reminded tourists going to the south coast of West Java, Central Java, and Yogyakarta to be aware of the potential for high waves in the sea south of West Java to Yogyakarta. (Antaranews)

The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday called for the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and girls in Afghanistan, denouncing a ban by the Taliban-led administration on women attending universities or working for humanitarian aid groups.

In a statement agreed by consensus, the 15-member council said the ban on women and girls attending high school and universities in Afghanistan "represents an increasing erosion for the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms."

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Twitter on Tuesday that the restrictions were "unjustifiable human rights violations and must be revoked." He added: "Actions to exclude and silence women and girls continue to cause immense suffering and major setbacks to the potential of the Afghan people."

The university ban on women was announced as the Security Council in New York met on Afghanistan last week. Girls have been banned from high school since March.

The council said a ban on female humanitarian workers, announced on Saturday, "would have a significant and immediate impact for humanitarian operations in country," including those of the United Nations.

"These restrictions contradict the commitments made by the Taliban to the Afghan people as well as the expectations of the international community," said the Security Council, which also expressed its full support for the U.N. political mission in Afghanistan, known as UNAMA.

Four major global aid groups, whose humanitarian efforts have reached millions of Afghans, said on Sunday that they were suspending operations because they were unable to run their programmes without female staff.

U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths told the Security Council last week that 97% of Afghans live in poverty, two-thirds of the population need aid to survive, 20 million people face acute hunger and 1.1 million teenage girls were banned from school.

The Islamist Taliban seized power in August last year. They had largely banned education of girls when last in power two decades ago but had said their policies had changed. The Taliban-led administration has not been recognised internationally. (Reuters)