VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - UNESCO has proposed the inclusion of Bahasa Indonesia in the official languages of the United Nations (UN), head of the East Kalimantan Language Agency, Halimi Hadibrata, informed here on Monday.

"On May 25, 2023, UNESCO proposed the use of Bahasa Indonesia in the UN. If agreed in the November 2023 session, the Indonesian language will officially become an international language along with other languages," Hadibrata said.

According to him, Bahasa Indonesia is ready to go global.

At an educational event held to strengthen literacy among the younger generation, Hadibrata said that Bahasa Indonesia becoming an official UN language will strengthen the nation's image.

Not only will it be the nation's unifier domestically, but also have a positive impact at the international level, he added.

"Our language will become an international language, and laws related to it and the idea of Pancasila will be translated into international languages, including discussion and so on," Hadibrata explained.

This global breakthrough must be appreciated, especially by the Indonesian people, by continuing to maintain and preserve the language by speaking in everyday life, he said.

The breakthrough aligns with the goal set at the Bahasa Indonesia Congress five years ago to make the Indonesian language an international language by 2045, he informed.

"With the efforts made by the language agency, this (internationalization) effort will be brought to the UN session this year; this hard work deserves appreciation," he added.

The 11th Indonesian Language Congress held in Jakarta from October 28 to 31, 2018, had generated 22 recommendations.

One of the recommendations was the internationalization of the Indonesian language.

In this case, the government has been urged to regulate the use of foreign languages as the language of instruction at schools and strengthen literary studies to improve the quality of education and literacy by utilizing digital devices and maximizing information technology use. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - A whale shark (Rhincodon typus) was found dead on Air Kuning Beach in Jembrana, Bali, due to being entangled in trawler nets, according to Bali's Denpasar Coastal and Marine Resources Management Agency (BPSPL).

"The whale shark was caught in trawler nets. Some fishermen attempted to free it and succeeded, but during the night, it returned to shore and eventually died," said the head of BPSPL Denpasar Permana Yudiarso on Monday.

The whale shark was found dead by a local fisherman on June 17, 2023, after being released back into the water.

Yudiarso said that whale sharks often become trapped in trawler nets while feeding on small fish.

So far, there have been no signs of violence found on the shark's carcass.

"There were no signs of violence. The area where it was entangled in the net was relatively shallow. Since it is a fish, not a mammal, if it remains out of the water for an extended period, it will quickly perish," he explained.

On June 18, a team from the Indonesian Wildlife Network conducted a necropsy to determine the cause of death. However, BPSPL has not yet received the results of the necropsy.

Yudiarso noted that the majority of whale shark populations inhabit the waters off southern and eastern Bali.

He said that although whale sharks are not commonly found in Bali's waters, they have been sighted in Jembrana, the Bali Strait, south of Nusa Penida, and the Gerogak area in Buleleng.

He urged people to promptly report similar incidents to authorities for swift action, especially during the current Sardinella lemuru fish season when many fishermen employ trawling techniques.

Yudiarso also requested that fishermen release whale sharks immediately if they become entangled in their nets.

Whale sharks are protected animals under Law No. 31 of 2004 concerning Fisheries. (Antaranews)

 The U.N. human rights chief called on Monday for greater support for his office as he seeks to expand its work by establishing a first-time presence in the world's two most populous countries India and China, whose rights records are drawing more scrutiny.

The U.N. human rights office, established after World War Two, is present in 95 countries and its leader plays a key role in calling out suspected abusers as well as working with countries in question to bring about change.

Volker Turk, who took over as high commissioner in late 2022, used his opening speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday to urge greater cooperation and singled out states such as Syria, Iran, Israel and Russia that should do more.

"We would now like to scale up engagement," he told the Geneva council at the opening of its four-week session, saying the world was at a "critical juncture" 75 years after adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"I also believe that it is important for us to establish a presence for the first time in China and India."

There was no immediate response to a request for comment from China or India's diplomatic mission in Geneva.

Setting up in China might prove difficult for Turk's office.

Negotiations went on for years to clear the way for a 2022 trip there by his predecessor, Michelle Bachelet, spurred in part by concerns about Beijing's treatment of Uyghur Muslims. China denies any abuses.

The U.S. said it is monitoring a rise in rights abuses in India by officials. New Delhi has said it values human rights.

A U.N. rights spokesperson added that Turk had discussed the idea of the two new offices during meetings with governments but did not elaborate on their reaction.

More broadly, Turk had voiced concern about a "strangulation of civil society in several countries", without naming them.

Turk said he would like to double his office's budget to step up global monitoring although this may prove challenging given that many countries oppose further scrutiny on sovereignty grounds.

While human rights comprise one of the four United Nations "pillars", alongside peace and security, the rule of law and development, it gets just 4% of the general budget.

Turk also called on the United States to act urgently on racial discrimination and to ratify six human rights treaties, including one on child rights. (Reuters)

Thailand on Monday justified hosting talks aimed at re-engaging with Myanmar's shunned military, saying dialogue was necessary to protect its border with the strife-torn country, even as key Southeast Asian neighbours stayed away.

Myanmar's generals have been barred from high-level meetings of the 10-member Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) since they seized power in a 2021 coup and unleashed violence on those who challenged their takeover.

But Thailand's outgoing military-backed government invited ASEAN foreign ministers, including the one appointed by Myanmar's junta, to discuss a proposal for the bloc to "fully re-engage Myanmar at the leaders' level", according to an invitation seen by Reuters and verified by sources.

Critics see the meeting as undermining a unified ASEAN approach to the crisis in Myanmar but Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said talks were necessary to protect his country, which shares a long border with Myanmar.

"We suffer more than others because Thailand has more than 3,000-km shared land border as well as a maritime border," Prayuth told reporters. "That is why the talks are necessary. It is not about taking sides."

Thailand's foreign minister, Don Pramudwinai, said earlier that Myanmar's crisis was sending refugees across the border into Thailand and it had hit trade hard.

"We can say that Thailand is the only country in ASEAN that wants to see the problems end as soon as possible," he told broadcaster Thai PBS.

He said other ASEAN countries "should be thanking us for doing something to help support their main goal".

Myanmar's junta-appointed foreign minister, Than Swe, was due to join the talks, two sources with knowledge of the meeting told Reuters.

But some ASEAN members declined to attend in a clear indication of their disapproval, while others sent junior officials.

Indonesia, which as the current ASEAN chair has for months been trying to engage key stakeholders in Myanmar's conflict in an effort to kick-start a peace process, did not join the talks.

Its foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, said ASEAN had "arrived at no consensus to re-engage or develop new approaches to the Myanmar issue", according to a letter seen by Reuters and verified by a source.

'BETRAYAL'

The military took over in Myanmar in 1962 and suppressed all opposition for decades until it launched a tentative opening up in 2011. But its experiment with democracy, which included elections swept by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, came to end when the military ousted her government, reimposed strict military rule and crushed protests.

With Myanmar again drawing Western condemnation and sanctions, ASEAN drew up a five-point plan, including an end to violence, dialogue and humanitarian assistance, but Myanmar's generals have ignored ASEAN's effort to the increasing frustration of the bloc.

Malaysia's foreign minister also declined to attend the talks in Thailand, his ministry said in a statement, adding that it was important for ASEAN to demonstrate unity in support of Indonesia's effort.

Singapore's foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, told a press conference in Singapore with his U.S. counterpart last week that it was "premature to re-engage with the junta" at a high level. It was not immediately clear on Monday if an official from Singapore was attending the talks in Thailand.

Cambodia said Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, who last year served as an ASEAN special envoy to Myanmar, would be represented by his deputy. It had said on Friday Prak Sokhonn would lead the Cambodian delegation.

An organisation of Southeast Asian lawmakers, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, called the talks a "betrayal of the Myanmar people and an affront to ASEAN unity". (Reuters)