T

he humanitarian crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine state became a hot topic in several ASEAN summits this week, as pressure builds on the regional group to step up engagement with the parties involved to come up with a lasting solution.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau insisted that Canada was looking to seek ways to “move forward in a way that reduces violence, emphasizes the rule of law and ensures protection for all citizens.”

“I had an extended conversation with state counselor of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, about the plight of Muslim refugees in Rakhine state,” Trudeau said in a press conference on Tuesday.

“This is a tremendous concern to Canada and to many, many countries around the world.”

Late on Monday, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was apparently the first of the leaders to raise the Rakhine state issue at the ASEAN-United Nations Summit.

Besides expressing deep concerns over the crisis, Jokowi invited ASEAN and Myanmar to move toward resolution, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in a briefing on Tuesday morning.

Among the points he brought up during the summit, Jokowi called on Myanmar government to follow through with the implementation of a series of recommendations from former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, who headed an advisory commission into Rakhine state.

He called on State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de facto leader, to make good on the promises she made during her address to the nation on the Rakhine issue, Retno said.

Jokowi also placed the utmost importance on the plan to repatriate the large number of refugees who had crossed the border to flee violence in Rakhine.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) jointly drafted by Myanmar and Bangladesh is to determine the terms of agreement.

The MoU would be a key aspect of finding a solution to the refugee crisis by allowing the parties involved to advance to the next phase of assistance, Jokowi argued.

Retno said the draft agreement was currently in Dhaka’s hands. She said she was in touch with Bangladeshi State Minister for Foreign Affairs Mohammed Shahriar Alam on Monday to check on the progress on the MoU. She said she would only reveal what she learned on an off-the-record basis.

On the sidelines of the summit, Jokowi also met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for a bilateral meeting, during which they also raised the importance of the Myanmar-Bangladesh agreement.

“If this crisis is not settled, it might impinge on stability and security in the region,” Jokowi said during the talks, as quoted in a statement from the Presidential Office.

The Rakhine issue was also briefly raised during the East Asia Summit, Indonesia’s lead delegate for ASEAN affairs, Jose Tavares confirmed on the margins of the meeting.

Earlier on Monday, Retno touched on the Rakhine issue with her United States counterpart, Rex Tillerson, during a one-on-one talk.

Tillerson consulted with Indonesia’s top diplomat ahead of his trip to Naypyidaw on Wednesday, which he announced following Suu Kyi’s own visit to the troubled Rakhine state — her first since the most recent violence erupted.

The US Secretary of State praised Indonesia’s active advocacy in the crisis and announced to Retno that the US would soon provide help to Myanmar, pending further consultations.

More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled from Rakhine to Bangladesh since late August, carrying accounts of murder, rape and arson at the hands of Myanmar’s powerful army, after militant raids sparked a ferocious military retaliation.

The UN says the army operation is tantamount to ethnic cleansing, while pressure has mounted on Myanmar to provide security for the Rohingya and allow people to return home.

Rakhine is home to more than 3 million people, according to official figures from the Myanmar government. The ethnic Rakhine make up the majority, followed by a considerable population of Rohingya.

In response to international pressure, Suu Kyi reportedly said her government had established a committee headed by Myanmar’s social affairs minister to implement the recommendations made by Annan.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate also promised to implement the repatriation agreement three weeks after it is signed by both parties, Retno said.