Is the 2016 Indonesian Presidential Regulation a Potential 'Game-changer’ on Rescue of Rohingya Boat Refugees?

Abstract

In 2015, after mixed responses by States in the region to the Andaman Sea crisis,1 including ‘push backs’ of boat-loads of asylum seekers and refugees, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand called a meeting to pressure the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to address the issue, and released a joint statement in which they pledged to uphold their ‘responsibilities and obligations under international law and in accordance with their respective domestic laws, including the provision of humanitarian assistance…’. That show of solidarity was consolidated in an international Special Meeting on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean, held in Bangkok on ..