Indonesia Will Help Resolve Rohingya Muslims Issue: VP

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Indonesia will help resolve the problems affecting Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar's Rakhine State, Vice President Jusuf Kalla has said.

"Of course, Indonesia wants to find a good solution, even if it is the domestic affairs of Myanmar. Indonesia wants to give suggestions and inputs for the good (of the people) and help find a solution for Myanmar," Kalla said in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Tuesday.    
   
The vice president also lauded the diplomacy conducted by Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, who went to Myanmar on Tuesday at the invitation of its State Counselor and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi for talks on the crisis.

Kalla said Indonesia will also send humanitarian aid to the refugees.

"Indonesia will help them so what they are worried about will not happen," he said.

The conflict between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar's western state has been escalating since early November this year.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported that nearly 10 thousand Rohingya refugees were stranded in Bangladesh on November 30.

Earlier, Retno LP Marsudi said that she would meet Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyidaw to discuss the crisis.

"I will meet with Dauw Aung San Suu Kyi to discuss the developments in Rakhine State," Retno was quoted as saying in the foreign affairs ministry's press statement on Tuesday.

Retno left Jakarta for Naypyidaw on Tuesday morning to meet with Suu Kyi in the evening, as part of a series of intensive diplomatic efforts undertaken by Indonesia to help resolve the problem in Rakhine State, according to the statement.

On Saturday, Retno had held talks over the phone with former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, who is now the chairman of the advisory committee on the settlement of problems in Rakhine State.

Despite Indonesia's diplomatic efforts to deal with the security situation, the condition of the victims in Rakhine State following the October 9 attack has not changed, according to Retno.

She said the Indonesian government continues to maintain intensive communications with the Myanmar government in Naypyidaw, and also through the ambassador of Myanmar in Jakarta.(WDY)