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Indonesia urges Myanmar to ensure security in Rakhine
Myanmar’s government should show its commitment to the security of conflict-torn western Myanmar to ensure that hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims would return voluntarily, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said at the 34th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok
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span>Myanmar’s government should show its commitment to the security of conflict-torn western Myanmar to ensure that hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims would return voluntarily, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said at the 34th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok.
In the ASEAN retreat meeting with all 10 leaders, Jokowi said the security of Rakhine state was key to a successful repatriation.
“We are all concerned about the security situation in Rakhine state, which has not shown improvement,” Jokowi said as quoted from a statement from his office on Sunday.
The region has attracted international attention since 2017 when Myanmar’s military cracked down on the minority Muslim Rohingya, driving about 730,000 of them to cross into Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, since earlier this year, civilians have been caught up in clashes between the military and the Arakan Army, an insurgent group that recruits from the mainly Buddhist ethnic Rakhine population and is fighting for greater autonomy for the state.
Reuters also reported on Saturday that Myanmar authorities ordered telecommunications companies to shut down internet services in Rakhine since Friday amid heightening tensions in the region, where government troops are fighting ethnic rebels.
Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said the security issue was also raised by Jokowi when he met Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday, when he told Suu Kyi that he feared the refugees would not want to return to Myanmar if Myanmar’s government fails to improve security in Rakhine.
Retno also said that during Sunday’s retreat meeting, while some other leaders did touch on other details of the Rohingya issue, Jokowi was focusing in particular on the Rohingya refugee crisis and the planned repatriation.
Jokowi said that the Myanmar government and ASEAN must follow up on a report recently prepared by the ASEAN Secretariat and ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Center) to help Myanmar prepare for a voluntary, safe and dignified repatriation of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to Rakhine.
After conducting the preliminary assessment in Rakhine in March, the AHA Center’s Emergency Response and Assessment Team submitted with ASEAN earlier this month a report that identified several potential areas of cooperation, including efforts to increase the capacity of reception and transit centers. The agency also prepared a step-by-step process outlining how refugees could return to their homeland.
The report was widely criticized by activists and experts because the assessment in question ignored the ongoing civil war in Rakhine and failed to mention the persecuted Muslim minority by name, casting doubt that the agency can provide a safe, secure and dignified return for the refugees.
Nevertheless the leaders have agreed to go ahead with the plan proposed by the agency, as a technical working group is to be established to coordinate the implementation of the initial assessment.
In Sunday’s ASEAN meeting, Jokowi also called on the High Level Committee — which was recently established by ASEAN and Myanmar to monitor the repatriation process — to immediately make an action plan with a clear time frame.
“Follow-up recommendations will [also] help make progress in preparations for repatriation,” Jokowi added.
He also proposed that ASEAN could help establish better communications between Myanmar, ASEAN, Bangladeshi authorities and the Rohingya refugees at Cox’s Bazar, saying that good communications were an important contribution to a successful repatriation.
