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POST TIME: 6 September, 2017 00:00 00 AM
Indonesia places 4+1 formula to resolve Rohingya crisis
UNB

Indonesia places 4+1 formula to resolve Rohingya crisis

Indonesia has submitted a proposal to Myanmar named 'Formula 4 + 1' for Rakhine State to restore peace and allowing immediate access to humanitarian assistance there, reports UNB. These four elements consist of (i) restoring stability and security; (ii) maximum restraint and non-violence; (iii) protection to all persons in the Rakhine State, regardless of race and religion; and (iv) the importance of immediate access to humanitarian assistance.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi had a meeting with Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar's capital on Monday and placed the proposal. "The first four elements are the main elements that must be done immediately so that the crisis of humanity and security does not worsen," explained the Indonesian Foreign Minister.

Another element is of importance for the recommendation of the Advisory Panel Report for the Rakhine State headed by Kofi Annan which she suggested implementing immediately.

The Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs at the meeting also expressed the concern and high commitment of Indonesian Humanitarian NGO to Myanmar.

In this regard, she said it has just launched the Humanitarian Alliance of Indonesia for Myanmar (AKIM) on August 31.

The Alliance consists of 11 humanitarian organizations, which prioritise its assistance on four issues, namely (i) education; (ii) health; (iii) livelihood (economy); and (iv) relief. The assistance commitments given by the Alliance amounted to US 2 million.

"I hope that the government of Myanmar can continue granting access to AKIM as it has been with the government of Indonesia in implementing several programmes," the Indonesian Foreign Minister was quoted as saying in a text UNB obtained yesterday.

Retno Marsudi arrived in the capital yesterday in a brief visit to discuss with Bangladesh leadership the current persecution on the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar's western state of Rakhine. She had a meeting with her Bangladesh counterpart AH Mahmood Ali at 4pm at State guesthouse Padma.

The Indonesian Foreign Minister will meet the press at a city hotel at 7:45pm after her meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at 7pm. As of now, around 1,23,000 people — mostly women and children — entered Bangladesh after the attacks on police and army bases in Rakhine on August 25 and the Myanmar military began crackdown.