VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated that the world was currently in a concerning condition due to declining economic conditions coupled with worsening inflation that had led to an increase in commodity prices.

The president delivered the statement during the National Gathering of the National Retired Army Association 2022 in Sentul, West Java, on Friday.

"The economic growth declined, yet the inflation kept increasing, and the prices of items and everything increased. This is a condition, which (is why) I may say, the world is in a scary situation," the president noted as quoted from a video uploaded on the Association's YouTube channel on Friday.

He explained that the IMF and World Bank estimated that 66 countries will witness a downfall in their economic conditions on account of the war and food crisis.

Of the 66 countries, the economic situation of nine countries had been gradually declining, followed by 25, and then 42 countries, he stated.

The president highlighted that currently, 320 million people in the world were experiencing extreme hunger. A large section of them were in a state of hunger, as the economic conditions had deteriorated.

Inevitably, Europe, the European Union, Australia, and the United States also experienced a decline in economic growth.

The increase in global oil prices also contributed to the high rate of inflation, which in turn caused the prices of other commodities to skyrocket.

“America, which usually has its price increase or inflation at one percent, today, was at the 9.1-percent mark. Oil (price) is twofold and so is (the case with) Europe,” Jokowi pointed out.

The government has also raised the price of Pertalite to Rp7,650 per liter, or 10 percent of the earlier price. In fact, the price should be set at Rp17,100 per liter, given the current global oil prices bite.

Thus, the government was still allocating a budget of up to Rp502 trillion to subsidize fuels.

"Just an increase of 10 percent in price, and it has led to a demonstration, which I remember was lasting for three months. If it went up 100 percent, then the demonstration would last several months. This is what the government is now controlling through subsidies. (It is) because once the price of gasoline goes up, the price of things will automatically rise as well," he concluded. (Antaranews)

The Jammu and Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India is recognized by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), a researcher from Strategic Vision Institute (SVI)-Islamabad, Muhamad Hanif, has said.

Both countries fought their first war over the accession of the then princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947–48, when India managed to occupy a major chunk of Jammu and Kashmir through military intervention, Hanif observed in a statement received on Friday.

When the Pakistani army countered the Indian military offensive, on January 1, 1948, under Article 35 of the UN Charter, India referred the Kashmir dispute to the UN Security Council.

On January 20, 1948, the UNSC passed Resolution 39, calling for an urgent investigation into the dispute by the newly established UN Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) to prevent a major war.

On April 21, 1948, the UNSC adopted Resolution 47, calling for a ceasefire and deciding that the accession of the state to Pakistan or India would be done through a free and impartial plebiscite, which both Pakistan and India agreed to.

The resolution also instructed the UNCIP to visit the subcontinent and mediate and help the two countries to hold a plebiscite, Hanif said.

However, in later years, India foiled all UNSC and UNCIP efforts to hold the plebiscite on one pretext or the other, as India knew that if an impartial plebiscite was held, then the Muslim majority population of Jammu and Kashmir would vote for accession to Pakistan.

In response to India’s long intransigence, since 1989, Hanif noted that the people of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir have launched a peaceful freedom struggle, with India deploying more than 700 thousand security troops to crush it. The security forces have committed human rights violations in Kashmir Valley with full impunity under the protection of draconian laws like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and Public Safety Act (PSA).

As per Kashmir Media Service (KMS), since 1989, around 100 thousand Kashmiris have been killed by Indian forces in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IOK).

Of them, more than 7,120 have been killed in Indian custody. Further, 109,200 structures have been destroyed, 22,896 women have been widowed, 107,754 children have been orphaned, and more than 11,110 women have been raped by Indian forces.

As of January 2019, 8,500 Kashmiri youth have been injured by pellet gunshots. Of these, 207 have been blinded in one eye, while 130 have been gone completely blind.

Crossing all limits, on August 5, 2019, the Narendra Modi government abrogated Articles 35-A and 370 of India’s Constitution and took away the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir, dividing the state into two union territories.

India has converted a UNSC-declared disputed territory between Pakistan and India into its integral part, which is in total violation of UNSC resolutions on Kashmir.

To pre-empt Kashmiris’ reaction, India has increased its security forces from 700 thousand to more than 1.1 million and imposed a curfew in the Kashmir Valley, which has remained in place. Internet services in Kashmir have also been blocked and all Kashmiri leaders/youth have been jailed.

When Pakistan referred the matter to the UNSC in August–September 2019, except for China, other members holding the veto power did not even condemn Indian actions, though they asked India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir dispute bilaterally.

The UNSC also could not agree on adopting a binding resolution to restrict India from unilaterally changing the status of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir by dividing it into two union territories and ending restrictions and violations in Kashmir, he said.

In view of the situation prevailing in India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and to draw the attention of the international community and UNSC veto members toward India’s barbarism, as announced by the Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Kashmiris living on both sides of the LoC (line of control) and across the world will observe Black Day on August 5, 2022, by organizing protest processions and programs against the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, and the violations committed in Kashmir Valley.

In this context, he said, the Azad Jammu Kashmir PM will lead the protest procession in Muzaffarabad and present a protest memorandum to a UN observer mission to draw the attention of the UNSC toward the genocide being committed by Indian forces in occupied Kashmir.

The protest procession will also urge UNSC members to adopt a fresh binding resolution on Kashmir and ask India to lift restrictions, end violations in Kashmir, and reverse the steps it took on August 5, 2019.

India should also be bound to either prepare for holding a plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir or a dialogue with Pakistan without any preconditions to resolve the Kashmir dispute within the next five years at the most. (Antaranews)

Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi and Cambodian Home Minister Krolahom Sar Kheng discussed efforts to prevent human trafficking.

At the meeting held in Phnom Penh on Thursday (August 4), Marsudi called on the Cambodian authorities to accelerate the process to repatriate Indonesian victims of trafficking.

"In particular, the foreign minister encouraged the acceleration of the negotiation of agreement between Indonesia and Cambodia regarding the eradication of cross-border crimes," the ministry's Director of Protection for Indonesian Citizens Judha Nugraha stated during an online press conference on Friday.

The memorandum of understanding would serve as the basis for closer cooperation to handle cases of human trafficking, especially in terms of prevention, victim protection, law enforcement against perpetrators, and policy coherence in handling trafficking.

The Cambodian police released 55 Indonesian migrant workers held captive by an online scammer in Sihanoukville on July 30, 2022. Seven other Indonesian migrant workers were released on Sunday.

Cambodian Minister of Home Affairs Krolahom Sar Kheng said he supported efforts to accelerate the repatriation of victims and the handling of other similar cases.

Kheng encouraged the completion of a bilateral agreement on eradication of transboundary crimes.

At the meeting, an agreement was reached that the repatriation of Indonesian citizens would soon be conducted in stages according to the availability of flights.

In its first stage, Judha said 12 victims would be repatriated on Friday.

"There are indeed flight limitations, but we can (start the repatriation), as early as today, by prioritizing vulnerable groups, women, and children," he stated.

The ministry will coordinate with relevant ministries and institutions for the rehabilitation of victims and reunite them with their respective families while awaiting the legal process against the perpetrators.

Marsudi had earlier met Cambodian Police Chief General Neth Savouen in Phnom Penh following the release of 62 Indonesian victims of fraud and trafficking by an online scamming syndicate in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.

Fraud and human trafficking targeting Indonesians has increased, according to data from the Directorate for the Protection of Indonesian Citizens.

The number of Indonesian victims of human trafficking in Cambodia has increased, from 119 people in 2021 to 298 people during the January-July 2022 period.

Speaking in connection with the current case, the number of victims has increased, from the initial report of 53 people to 129 people.

The victims have been rescued and are at the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh, Judha stated. (Antaranews)

Indonesia's economy grew by 5.44 percent in the second quarter (Q2) of 2022 as compared to the same period last year (year-on-year/yoy), according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS).

Economic performance during the period was even better than that recorded before the pandemic and indicated that economic recovery since the second quarter of 2021 continues and is getting stronger, BPS stated.

"Economic growth this year has steadily increased. It started from the second quarter of 2021, the third quarter of 2021, the fourth quarter of 2021, the first quarter of 2022, and the second quarter of 2022, (the economy) continues to grow," BPS Head Margo Yuwono noted here on Friday.

The 5.44-percent growth was contributed by the increase in gross domestic product (GDP) at Current Prices (ADHB) and GDP at Constant Prices (ADHK), Yuwono elaborated.

In the second quarter of 2022, the GDP at ADHB was recorded at Rp4,919.9 trillion, an increase from the second quarter of 2021, at Rp4,176.4 trillion.

Meanwhile, the GDP at ADHK increased, from Rp2,772.9 trillion in the second quarter of 2021 to Rp2,923.7 trillion in the second quarter of 2022.

Yuwono said, as compared to the previous quarter (qtq), the domestic economy has grown by 3.72 percent.

"This growth is in line with the pattern of quarterly growth. Hence, the second quarter is always positive and higher than the first quarter, partly due to seasonal factors," he stated.

Cumulatively, he remarked that Indonesia's economy in the first half of 2022 was recorded to grow 5.23 percent as compared to the first half of last year.  (Antaranews)