Latest news with #StanleyWidianto
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
ASEAN to dedicate two meetings to Myanmar conflict next week, chief says
By Stanley Widianto JAKARTA (Reuters) -The Southeast Asian grouping ASEAN will hold two meetings specifically on the civil war in army-ruled Myanmar ahead of its summit next week, the bloc's secretary-general said on Wednesday, in a bid to advance its faltering peace effort. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations has repeatedly called for a halt in hostilities between rebels and the ruling junta that have displaced an estimated 3.5 million people since the military overthrew the elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021. ASEAN's peace proposal that same year, the "Five Point Consensus", which calls for an end to violence and dialogue between warring groups, has made barely any progress, resulting in Myanmar's ruling generals being barred from its summits. "This is something new that will specifically focus on Myanmar, that they will take no other issue," ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn told Reuters in an interview, referring to the two meetings in Malaysia on Myanmar. Kao Kim Hourn did not specify the issues up for discussion or if there were new proposals to be made. He said the first meeting would involve the current, previous and next ASEAN chair nations, namely Malaysia, Laos and Philippines, respectively. The second gathering would be of the bloc's foreign ministers, he said. Once seen as a promising frontier market following a decade of economic reform and tentative democracy, the 2021 coup plunged Myanmar into chaos, with the military struggling to govern and battling to contain a widening rebellion by ethnic minority rebels and a pro-democracy resistance movement. The military has been accused of widespread atrocities, including air strikes on civilian areas, allegations it has rejected as western disinformation. 'WE ALL ARE TOO IMPATIENT' Asked about the lack of progress on Myanmar, Kao Kim Hourn defended ASEAN's plan, describing it as "beautiful", but urged all stakeholders to implement it. "It will be presumptuous for any party to expect a quick fix to this issue. For us, we stay engaged," he said. "But it may take time. You see, the thing is that we all are too impatient." "And as long as we bring down, you know, large-scale fighting to a smaller one, as long as we can bring people to the table, that's progress." He declined to comment on the military launching multiple airstrikes and artillery assaults, as reported by Reuters, despite a ceasefire after a major earthquake in March. Kao Kim Hourn said it was unclear who had violated the ceasefire. He also reiterated ASEAN countries and China were committed to finalising a protracted code of conduct for the hotly disputed South China Sea by next year, stressing the need to support that effort by maintaining peace. "What is important for us in this region, number one, is to de-escalate the tensions and to prevent any possible risk of miscalculation, misperception that gives rise to unnecessary tension and maybe conflict," Kao Kim Hourn said. He also cited good progress towards admitting an 11th member to ASEAN - East Timor - which he said had fulfilled a number of required criteria. "More likely, it could take place maybe later this year," he said.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Indonesia parliament set to ratify sea boundary with Vietnam, lawmaker says
By Ananda Teresia and Stanley Widianto JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's parliament is set to agree next week to ratify an agreement made with Vietnam that sets the boundaries of their exclusive economic zones in the contested South China Sea, a lawmaker said on Thursday. The South China Sea is a strategic waterway that has been a source of tension between China and its Southeast Asian neighbours, disrupting fishing and energy exploration in the area. Nico Siahaan, a lawmaker in the parliamentary commission overseeing the agreement, told Reuters the parliament and the government would formally agree to ratify it on Monday, with the actual ratification set for that week or the following week. The agreement, signed in 2022 after more than a decade of negotiations, determines the coordinates of the two nations' EEZs at sea. The Vietnamese parliament also needs to ratify the deal. Indonesia hopes it could reduce encroachments by Vietnamese fishermen in its waters, a frequent source of tension. Hikmahanto Juwana, an Indonesian international law expert who was consulted by the parliament last week, told Reuters on Thursday the agreement means the two countries are ignoring China's claims in the sea. China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, including parts of the exclusive economic zones of Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Vietnam, and waters off Indonesia's Natuna Islands. In 2016, an international arbitral tribunal ruled that China's claims have no basis under international law. China does not recognise the ruling, and insists it operates lawfully in its territory. Indonesia's deputy foreign minister, Arif Havas Oegroseno, told Reuters on Wednesday that the agreement would provide legal boundaries for fishermen and clearly define relations between the two countries at sea. "To Indonesia, as an archipelago with a lot of neighbours, ideally sea borders are done. So we have a legal certainty: where we can make patrols, drill oil," he said. Indonesia's signing of a maritime deal with China last year sparked controversy, with analysts saying it could be interpreted as a change in Jakarta's long-held stance as a non-claimant state in the South China Sea. Indonesia's foreign ministry has repeatedly said the country is a non-claimant state in the South China Sea and has no overlapping jurisdiction with China.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Outpouring of grief over Pope Francis' death in largest Muslim-majority country Indonesia
By Stanley Widianto JAKARTA (Reuters) - Pope Francis's death has elicited an outpouring of grief in Indonesia, with tributes in the world's largest Muslim-majority country praising the pontiff's commitment to interfaith harmony and his stance on Israel's military offensive in Gaza. Prominent Islamic groups in Indonesia, where around 90% of the 280 million population is Muslim, and the general public praised the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in public statements and social media posts. "His demands to stop the (Gaza) genocide, his ideas on peace, and his great desire for human fraternity - they are all in line with the council's values," said Sudarnoto Abdul Hakim, an official at Indonesia's highest council of clerics. In his last Easter Sunday message, a day before he died after suffering a stroke, Francis, 88, reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Francis had been ramping up criticism of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave "very serious and shameful" in January. Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia's largest Islamic organisation of roughly 40 million members, considered to be one of the largest in the world, sent its condolences. "Pope Francis was tireless in his efforts to turn the Catholic church into the caretaker and defender of humanity," chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf said. Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second-largest Muslim group, also joined the chorus of grief. "I hope the inspiration and steps that Pope Francis has taken for humanity and peace can become a push for massive global peace and order," chairman Haedar Nashir said in a statement. Francis arrived in Jakarta last year with a message of interfaith harmony, telling Indonesia's political leaders that the Catholic Church would increase its efforts toward inter-religious dialogue in hopes of helping tamp down extremism. The message is consistent with Francis' stance, having said equating Islam with violence was wrong in 2014. Muhammad, a 20-year-old Muslim university student, who visited Jakarta's Cathedral on Tuesday to pay his respects, said Francis always brought a message of harmony, despite the occasional inter-religious friction. "With his presence, we can take the example that we should be tolerant, with Indonesia being a diverse country," he said. There was an outpouring by Indonesian social media users, too, with "Paus Fransiskus" - as Francis is referred to in Indonesian - trending in the country on social media platform X. Instagram user @sarasaure wrote hearing the pope say Islamic greeting "Assalamualaikum", or peace be upon you, made her teary. "He stood by Palestine until the very end. This is what real faith should look like - borderless compassion for humanity, for the oppressed". (Additional reporting by Johan Purnomo and Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Gibran Peshimam and Saad Sayeed)
Zawya
26-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Apple says iPhone 16 series to be available in Indonesia from April 11
Apple's iPhone 16 series will be available in Indonesia from April 11, it said on Wednesday, after Jakarta lifted a ban on its sale following the company's more than $300 million investment plan. The Southeast Asian country of about 280 million people banned iPhone 16 sales last year as the company failed to meet composition requirements for parts to be locally made. (Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Jan Harvey)
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Exclusive-UN slashes support for Rohingya refugees in Indonesia due to U.S. cuts, sources say
By Stanley Widianto JAKARTA (Reuters) - The United Nations' migration agency has slashed aid to hundreds of Rohingya refugees in Indonesia, according to a letter seen by Reuters and two people briefed on the matter, because of massive funding cuts by their biggest donor, the United States. In the letter, dated February 28, the International Organization for Migration said it would be unable to provide healthcare and cash assistance to 925 Rohingya refugees sheltering in the western city of Pekanbaru from March 5, "due to resource constraints". Some help would continue for the most vulnerable people, it said. Many ethnic Rohingya - who are mostly Muslim, originally from Myanmar and constitute the world's largest stateless population - escape squalid camps and persecution in Myanmar and neighbouring Bangladesh each year, sailing aboard rickety boats to Thailand or Muslim-majority Indonesia and Malaysia. IOM's move was due to the decision by the Trump administration to cut most foreign assistance, said Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, a group that monitors the Rohingya crisis, and another person briefed on the matter. In a statement to Reuters, IOM said it was "complying with all legal orders" as a result of the U.S. government's decision, which was "impacting our staff, operations, and the people we serve". The organization remained 'committed to delivering vital humanitarian assistance' and continued to engage donors and partners including the U.S. to sustain critical services, it said. The U.S. embassy in Jakarta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The move since President Donald Trump took office in January to halt most U.S. foreign aid and dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has thrown the humanitarian sector into turmoil globally. Reuters reported on Wednesday that the World Food Programme would halve rations to more than a million Rohingya living in Bangladesh, which hosts the world's largest refugee settlement, to $6 per month. The U.N. says about 2,800 Rohingya refugees live in Indonesia. The 925 in Pekanbaru on Sumatra island, close to Malaysia, had arrived by boat and were entirely dependent on cash assistance, said Abdu Rahman, a Rohingya refugee in the city. "People don't have support for their daily survival and can't eat since the refugees are not allowed to work," he said. Hadi Sanjoyo, a senior official with the Pekanbaru government's task force overseeing refugee issues, said officials planned to talk to local non-profits about how to handle the situation, adding that he was concerned about the potential for unrest amid increased tension between the refugees and locals. "They're our brothers and sisters, too," he said. "Humanity is beyond borders."
