Indonesia and Thailand are determined to support ASEAN-led efforts in Myanmar’s Rakhine state to safely repatriate Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi met on Wednesday with her Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai in Jakarta, during which they discussed, among other topics, the Rakhine issue in Myanmar.

“On Rakhine state, today [Wednesday], the preliminary assessment team of ASEAN will complete its mission in Myanmar. Both of us very much welcome this mission and are looking forward to hearing the briefing through the secretary-general of ASEAN,” Retno said after the meeting, referring to Lim Jock Hoi.

The assessment team, which comprises representatives from the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance (AHA Center), was deployed last December to identify and prepare humanitarian needs, such as tents and kitchen sets, following a decision at the ASEAN Summit in Singapore a month earlier.

Pramudwinai said ASEAN would “very soon” deploy a “comprehensive assessment team” as a follow-up to the preliminary assessment mission.

“ASEAN is there and will be very much there in offering hands to our friend and member of the ASEAN family, Myanmar,” Pramudwinai said.

The AHA center was originally established to handle natural disasters, but ASEAN recently gave the center the authority to help with the repatriation of Rohingya refugees in “a safe, voluntary and dignified manner”.

According to the Foreign Ministry’s director general for ASEAN cooperation, Jose Tavares, the ASEAN Foreign Minister Retreat in Chiang Mai in January agreed to expand the AHA Center role in Rakhine by allowing it to take part in the coming comprehensive assessment.

It would monitor the repatriation process, Jose told The Jakarta Post recently.

Both the AHA Center and the ASEAN Secretariat said the assessment team was still formulating a report on preliminary assessment results.

Apart from the Rakhine issue, the two foreign ministers also discussed the Indo-Pacific concept — an evolving concept for a regional order straddling the Indian and Pacific oceans that has gained popularity in recent years.

Jakarta said it appreciated Bangkok, which holds the bloc’s chairmanship this year, for its support for the Indonesia-initiated concept. It is expected to be adopted by the bloc this year.

“We welcome the ASEAN text on the Indo-Pacific outlook as proposed by the ASEAN senior officials meeting in Bangkok early this month. Indonesia looks forward to continuing its good collaboration with Thailand on the development of Indo-Pacific cooperation,” Retno said.

Later that day, Pramudwinai paid a courtesy visit to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo at the Presidential Palace.

In the meeting, Jokowi raised a call for Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia — the world’s top producers of natural rubber — to strengthen cooperation amid a declining price of natural rubber, which hit its lowest figure since 2018.

The three Southeast Asian countries produce 70 percent of the world’s natural rubber.

“The President said there is no option for the three countries other than to strengthen cooperation to prevent a further drop in rubber prices,” said Retno, who also attended the meeting.

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