New Delhi (Mizzima) - Indonesia said it is allowing the United Nations Refugee agency access to nearly 400 Rohingya boatpeople, who were rescued from Sabang Island of Aceh province last month, once the agency submit details of their plans, a government official said.
"We are already engaged with UNHCR but at the moment they are not traveling to Aceh," Teuku Faizasyah, spokesman of Indonesia's Foreign Ministry told Mizzima on Monday.
He said, after the UN's submission of its plan the government will check and confirm the time frame of the assessment.
Indonesia's change in policy of considering the plight of the Rohingya boat people came after it initially refused to recognize the boatpeople as refugees. But on Friday, Indonesia's foreign minister said they are now considering UNHCR to allow assessment of the situation of the boatpeople.
On January 7, Indonesian authorities rescued 193 Rohingya boat-people from Burma and Bangladesh near Ache and rescued another batch of 198 on February 3 in Sumatra Island.
"They are fine, we are treating them well, some are already returning from the hospital but there are a few still remaining," Faizasyah said.
The foreign ministry said, it is having difficulties in assessing the situation of the Rohingya, who have illegally entered Indonesia, which is why they have accepted the UNHCR's request to determine if the boatpeople should need any international protection.
"We are not in a position to solve the refugee problem that's why we have engaged the UNHCR to make a plan. After verifying these people they should come up with a solution," Faizasyah added.
Anita Restu, spokesperson of the UNHCR office in Indonesia said, the assessment will be carried out within the coming week and would verify if the boatpeople need international protection under the UN mandate.
"Last week, the government invited UNHCR but the issue is still under discussion between the UNHCR, the government and IOM [International Organization for Migration]," said Restu.
"We are planning what to access and during this week the UNHCR and government are planning about the modality of access," she added.
Meanwhile, the Indian Navy said it is planning to send back the nearly 450 boatpeople, whom they rescued in Andaman Island, to Bangladesh, the country which they believe the boatpeople originally boarded the boats.
The authorities in Andaman told Mizzima that most of Rohingya are Bangladeshi and a few are from Burma and that both will be send back to Bangladesh.
UNHCR in New Delhi, meanwhile, said it is engaging with the Indian government to get access to the Rohingya and are closely following the developments, Nayana Bose, the UNHCR's external relations officer told Mizzima in an email message.
"Our office is aware of the presence of these persons in the Andaman islands. Since we do not have a regular presence there, we are closely following developments through various organizations," said Bose.
"As UNHCR has been doing in all countries in the region where these boat people have arrived, we have also raised the matter with the Government of India at various levels," added Bose.
"We remain engaged with them to ensure the well being of these persons," she added.
