The Humanitarian Diplomacy of Indonesian President, House of Representatives, and Minister of Foreign Affairs on Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis in Myanmar in 2015–2021

Abstract

Violence against the Rohingya ethnic in Myanmar has caused thousands of deaths, hundreds of thousands of people evacuated, thousands of houses burnt to ashes, and innumerable value of destroyed properties. Myanmar appears to ignore the Rohingya crisis, leaving it without any concrete resolution. This condition undoubtedly triggers Indonesia’s responses. In responding to the Rohingya humanitarian crisis, Indonesia engaged in humanitarian diplomacy that consists of four fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence. Indonesian president, minister of foreign affairs, and members of DPR RI (the house of representatives of Indonesia) serve as the spearhead of humanitarian diplomacy, representing the Indonesian people. This article aims to describe the four principles of humanitarian diplomacy and to see which principle is mainly used by these three state elements (i.e., DPR RI, president, and Minister of Foreign Affairs). The content analysis result of the news on statements of the members of DPR RI, the president, and the minister of foreign affairs showed that these three elements prioritized the principle of humanity over the other three principles.