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Red Cross chief sees Indonesia as 'bridge' in global conflicts
The head of the global Red Cross body met on Tuesday with Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who chairs the Indonesian Red Cross.
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International Committee of the Red Cross president Peter Maurer speaks to media. (Courtesy of ICRC/File)
T
he head of the global Red Cross body met on Tuesday with Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who chairs the Indonesian Red Cross.
National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto and Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Puan Maharani also attended the meeting.
Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), also met with ASEAN secretary-general Le Luong Minh. He said he was exploring increased cooperation on humanitarian matters with Indonesia and with ASEAN. He is scheduled to meet with Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi on Wednesday.
Speaking to the press along with the ICRC’s representative for Indonesia and Timor Leste, Christoph Sutter, Maurer said that with increasingly protracted and complex conflicts, the ICRC “cannot manage on its own.”
Therefore, Maurer said the ICRC must always seek “bridges” to facilitate its humanitarian work in areas of conflict and disaster. Like the ICRC as a multinational organization, he said, Indonesia was “at the frontline of all religious and ethical fault lines of the world […] We see this vibrant society trying to cope with diversity.”
As a nation with “less ideology and less violence” he said Indonesia had managed to become a dialogue partner to Myanmar, which then met with other ASEAN member states to discuss the crisis in Rakhine State where the ICRC has obtained access.
He said Kalla, Tito and the coordinating ministers expressed an interest in continuing their cooperation, including training for international peacekeepers among the police and military.
Puan was especially interested in the ICRC’s counseling and rehabilitation programs for sexual abuse victims, Maurer said, which are “typical in conflict and non-conflict societies.” (dan)
