Indonesia to Continue Help Myanmar Out of Crisis, Minister Says

Jakarta – The Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi emphasized that Indonesia will make every effort to help the people of Myanmar get out of the political crisis based on the Five-Point Consensus (5PC) agreed upon by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"Trust must be built among stakeholders in Myanmar to open the possibility of an inclusive dialog," Minister said in a press statement after a bilateral meeting with the Mongolian Foreign Minister in Ulaanbaatar on Wednesday.

The continued violence in Myanmar must be condemned, Retno said, and ASEAN is committed to providing humanitarian assistance based on the principle of "leave no one behind".

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As ASEAN chair this year, Retno assured that Indonesia will do its best to make ASEAN a contributor to peace and stability in the region, and make Southeast Asia a center of growth.

She explained that Indonesia is currently preparing for the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and Post Ministerial Meeting or AMM/PMC, where Mongolia is one of the members of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) which is included in the AMM/PMC series.

The Myanmar issue is considered to have "divided ASEAN" after Thailand recently initiated an ASEAN foreign ministerial meeting in Pattaya by inviting political representatives of the Myanmar junta.

The government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha argued that Thailand was forced to take this step because the direct impact of the Myanmar crisis was far more real and greater than that felt by other ASEAN countries, given that Thailand shares a very long border with Myanmar.

However, several ASEAN member states, including Indonesia, refused to attend the meeting.

Indonesia considers that Myanmar's approach of involving only one of the parties involved in the political conflict in Myanmar violates the mandate of the 5PC.

The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Thomas Andrews, said last week that the Pattaya meeting could have the dangerous effect of legitimizing the junta and undermining ASEAN unity.

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The government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha argued that Thailand was forced to take this step because the direct impact of the Myanmar crisis was far more real and greater than that felt by other ASEAN countries, given that Thailand shares a very long border with Myanmar.