ndonesia has again called on Myanmar to work out its plan to repatriate thousands of Rohingya refugees and address the root cause of a refugee crisis that has spilled over into the rest of Southeast Asia.

Hundreds of stranded Rohingya refugees landed on Indonesian shores just a day before the top diplomats of ten-nation ASEAN virtually convened to thrash out a collective stance on various issues, including the refugee crisis.

At the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi expressed her concerns over the ongoing crisis in the region and underlined the need for ASEAN to address the root cause of the problem.

She urged Myanmar as well as the ASEAN Secretariat to provide an update on efforts to ensure a voluntary, safe and dignified return of the Rohingya minority to Myanmar’s Rakhine state, where they originate.

“Without it, we are very concerned that this will happen again and again and it will never be resolved if we can’t solve the core issue,” she told reporters in Jakarta on Wednesday evening.

Out of humanitarian considerations, Indonesia rescued and took in a total of 395 Rohingya refugees who were stranded in cramped boats at sea. The first group of refugees was rescued by local fishermen in Aceh province on June 24, while the second arrived early on Monday.

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