Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII) welcomes His Excellency Paul Bekkers, Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion and Belief of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and His Excellency Adriaan Palm, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Indonesia, on Wednesday, 8 July 2026. 

During a brief meeting with the Rector of UIII, Prof. Jamhari, and UIII officials, H.E. Paul Bekkers expressed his happiness at the prospect of visiting UIII.

On this special occasion, Prof. Jamhari expresses gratitude to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which has always supported UIII since its establishment. “Thank you for the many supports from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, one of which is the scholarship,” he said.

At this meeting, H.E. Paul proposed a partnership to organize an interfaith dialogue at UIII. He said that he needs to learn and understand each other about freedom of religion or belief because Indonesia has a lot of experience in that field, especially in Islam.

“We can talk about it in the interfaith dialogue, like something to bring peace together. Also, we have to learn from each other, understand each other. And I realized the vast majority of our values are similar,” he said.

Prof. Jamhari welcomed this idea, saying it is ready to move the dialogue forward. In the years before, UIII has held interfaith dialogues with institutions from other countries, such as Australia. “It’s one of our mission, to advance and promote moderate Islam and Wasathiyah of Indonesia to the world.”

Limited discussions

On this occasion, H.E. Paul Bekkers gave a talk to students in a limited discussion forum, discussing contemporary issues related to freedom of religion or belief, and will engage in meaningful dialogue with them.