Indonesian FM Receives First Visit of UN Special Envoy for Myanmar

Jakarta, MINA – Indonesian Foreign Minister (FM), Retno LP Marsudi received a visit from the Special Envoy of UN Secretary General for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener in her office at Central Jakarta on Thursday.

“This is the first visit of the UN Envoy to Myanmar to Indonesia. Previously, Foreign Minister had met in New York on the sidelines of the UN meeting, “Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Arrmanatha Nasir said in a press statement on Thursday.

According to Arrmanatha, the visit showed the UN’s recognition of Indonesia’s role and contribution in the context of resolving issues in Rakhine State, Myanmar.

Some of the developments that have been achieved were discussed at the meeting especially related to the repatriation of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh to Rakhine State.

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“During the meeting, they discussed the steps that can be taken together, so that Rohingya refugees can return to the Rakhine State, of course through the agreement of Myanmar and Bangladesh Myanmar,” Arrmanatha said.

“Then, cooperative effort in the future will ensure that the repatriation process can be carried out voluntarily, safely and with dignity,” he added.

Indonesia and ASEAN have made various efforts including sending representatives of the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Center) to Rakhine State a few weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the UN is ready to provide funding to the Government of Bangladesh which plans to move Rohingya refugees to the island of Bhashan Char in April, with the intention of reducing pressure on Cox’s Bazar refugee camps, especially in Kutupalong, on the border with Myanmar.

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More than 740,000 Muslim refugees have moved to the area, having fled fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Rohingya Safety Army (ARSA).

The United Nations wants to “be constructively involved” with Bangladesh to ensure refugees live in safe and sustainable conditions and relocation to the island will take place on a voluntary basis. (L/Sj/R04)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)