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An official from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries denied on Thursday that the government was considering leasing some islands to foreigners likely to be displaced by climate change.

Syamsul Maarif, the ministry’s director of oceans, coastal areas and small islands, clarified that Maritime and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi had spoken of the proposal but added that there was no talk of implementation yet.

However, he said that the government was considering giving temporary aid to people seeking refuge from rising sea levels.

“We are not going to lease islands but we do feel socially obliged, as part of the world and also as member of United Nations, to respond to countries under threat of losing their land because of climate change,” Syamsul said.

“We are still far away from discussing the possibility of allowing them to stay on one of our islands because we would need to discuss it with other departments, such as the Foreign Affairs Ministry, since it has something to do with our sovereignty,” he said.

Syamsul added, “We are also still far away from talking about renting the islands. It was just an idea from the minister but even the UN has not mentioned it.”

However, if the idea was realized, he said Indonesia would provide uninhabited islands for people who would be considered as refugees under the terms of the UN definition.

“They will be considered as refugees and will be placed on one of the deserted islands and we’ll also need to prepare the infrastructure but, then again, I must tell you that we still don’t know of any agreement from the UN about this issue,” Syamsul said.

“But, if it is going to happen, we will do it on the basis of social need and not charge any money,” he said.

Syamsul said there was a historical precedent for this, with Indonesia providing an island for Vietnamese refugees during the war in their country in the 1960s and 1970s.

He said no country had yet asked to rent or buy an Indonesian island with climate change as the reason.

“Indonesia has 17,480 islands, with half of them not occupied, so that’s around 9,000 islands,” Syamsul said.

Meanwhile, Michel LaRue, a representative of the French group Institute for Development Research, said the world might see climate change refugees earlier than anticipated because rising sea levels would bring premature fears of homelands being submerged.

“It is also because a very slight rise in the sea level might spoil the quality of fresh water,” he said. “There will also be Indonesian climate change refugees and I think it’s better for the government to anticipate that.”

LaRue said Indonesia had much more experience on migration and relocating people, but he underlined the importance of climate change adaptation and anticipating its effects by having a plan in place.