Myanmar Expresses Gratitude for Indonesia`s Humanitarian Assistance

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (in batik shirt) inspects an aid consignment destined for Myanmar’s Rakhine state at Tanjung Priok Port.

Jakarta, 01 Rabiul Akhir 1438/31 December 2016 (MINA) – The Myanmar government has expressed its gratitude to Indonesia for providing humanitarian assistance to the Rohingyas in Rakhine state, Myanmars Ambassador to Indonesia Aung Htoo here on Friday.

“We want to express our gratitude to Indonesia for helping us during the incident and also for your (Indonesian government) commitment to help us in resolving the crisis,” Antara quoted Htoo as saying.

Ambassador Htoo noted that Indonesia had sent 10 containers of foods and logistic goods for the Rohingya people in Rakhine State.

President Joko Widodo sent the humanitarian packages from the Tanjung Priok Port, Jakarta, on Thursday, Dec 29.

“Those 10 logistic containers will provide food for the people in Rakhine, at least for a month,” Ambassador Htoo said.

Htoo noted that Indonesia Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi went to Myanmar and met with State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi. They held fruitful discussions and determined to work hard to resolve the crisis by providing inclusive development in Rakhine State.

“You know, there are so many fake news and rumors being circulated, they said there were killing, raping, genocide or something, but most of the things are not true,” he said.

“And your foreign minister was willing to go there and talk to the people (in Rakhine) by herself, so she knew what is really going on there,” Htoo added.

On December 6, President Widodo instructed Foreign Affairs Minister Marsudi to go to Myanmar and deliver four messages related to the Rakhine crisis, namely the urgency of delivering humanitarian assistance to the state, the importance of establishing stability and peace, protecting and enforcing human rights, and reaching out more to the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) in resolving the crisis.

As a follow-up, on December 19, the foreign ministers of Indonesia and the other nine ASEAN countries held a retreat meeting in the Myanmar capital Yangoon to address the issue. (T/RS05/RS01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)