JAKARTA (AFP) – The United Nations (UN) migration agency reversed cuts to funding for Rohingya refugees in Indonesia, its top official in the country told AFP yesterday, days after it slashed assistance because of United States (US) President Donald Trump’s foreign aid funding freeze.
The mostly Muslim ethnic Rohingya are heavily persecuted in Myanmar and thousands risk their lives each year on long and dangerous sea journeys to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.
A letter dated February 28 from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), seen by AFP, said support was being cut for nearly 1,000 Rohingya refugees in Pekanbaru city on the western island of Sumatra.
But the IOM chief of mission in Indonesia told AFP the cuts have been reversed, without a reason given.
“Our largest programme to provide humanitarian assistance has been reinstated,” Jeffrey Labovitz said.
“I can confirm there is no current planned reduction in services.”
The agency said in an email statement that it “remains committed to assisting Rohingya refugees in Indonesia, continuing our support as we have in the past”.
More than 2,000 Rohingya are languishing in Indonesia under legal uncertainty as nations refuse to take them in permanently, leaving them reliant on UN support for shelter and aid.
The IOM said last week that the US freeze was “impacting our staff, operations and the people we serve”. The freeze had left funds desperately needed to maintain levels of assistance to the persecuted minority, a source familiar with the matter told AFP. The US embassy in Jakarta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Indonesia is not a signatory to the UN refugee convention and says it cannot be compelled to take in refugees from Myanmar, calling instead on neighbouring countries to share the burden and resettle the Rohingya who arrive on its shores.
On Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was cancelling 5,200 programmes at development agency USAID, but would keep 1,000 to be administered by the State Department.
