Jusuf Kalla welcomed to visit Myanmar conflict site

An entourage led by former vice president Jusuf Kalla becomes one of the first groups, welcomed by the Myanmar government, to directly pay a visit to the site of a deadly conflict between the Rohingya and Rakhines, which has been waging since June.

The group, including former Helsinki treaty negotiator Hamid Awaludin, Ambassador Sebastianus Sumarno and Organization of Islamic Conference Secretary General assistant Atta Abdul Manna, met with the Myanmar President, U Thein Sein, and his aides at the Presidential Palace in Myanmar on Friday.

According to Kalla, who chairs the Indonesian Red Cross, the Myanmar government regrets reports in media that said the conflict was triggered by ethnic clash that led to religious conflict. It considered that the notion was not the true cause of the conflict.

According to Myanmar government the conflict was triggered by a criminal act by some residents, which lead to communal conflict, said Kalla.

Thus far no official statement about the number of lives lost in the conflict, but around 100,000 people were reportedly displaced.

The Myanmar government said that the international community had a misinterpretation about what had happened in Rakhine province.

“Therefore Myanmar President told us to visit the province to see what has actually happened there. We will go to Sittwe, capital of Rakhine tomorrow (Sat.11),” Kalla said as stated in a press release received by The Jakarta Post Digital.

Meanwhile, Myanmar’s Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Minister, U Aung Kyi, said that his government had cooperated with the United Nations and various non-government organizations to try resolving the conflict.

“But, we are depicted by mass media as if we have done nothing,” Aung Kyi said.(riz)