Indonesian red cross head to visit Myanmar to discuss Rohingya issue

                     M. Jusuf Kalla. (ANTARA/Saptono)

Kuala Lumpur (ANTARA News) - Indonesian Red Cross head Muhammad Jusuf Kalla will visit Myanmar to urge the government there to let Rohingya Muslims have access to humanitarian aid.

"I will fly to Myanmar and I think the government now is not as rigid as in the past," former Indonesian Vice Presiden (2004-2009) said here on Friday.

On humanitarian grounds, Kalla added, the United Nation, ASEAN and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) should be allowed to provide relief aid to Rohingya Muslims.

"The humanitarian aspect must be considered," he stated. 

Neutral parties are needed to solve the problem of Rohingya Muslims. We need something similar to what the Indonesian government did when there was turmoil in Ambon, Kalla explained.

At the time, the Indonesian government did not allow religious organizations from foreign countries to play a role in resolving the conflict in Ambon island, because that could potentially aggravate the situation, he added.

However, Kalla said, political pressure from other countries was also important to end the conflict in Myanmar. He added that the conflict led to much violence against Rohingya Muslims, and their human rights were violated.

"Remember, that the most precious thing in this world is human rights," Kalla pointed out.

He said Myanmar and Bangladesh must let Rohingya Muslims have access to relief aid from foreign organisations.

"There should be cooperation in distribution of aids for Rohingya people," Kalla added.

He stated that Qatar had allocated US$200 million for Rohingya Muslims and the aid must be distributed to them.

"The Rohingnya issue is a political problem, which is similar to the racial conflict in Indonesia, involving Chinese-origin people, during the late 1950s," Kalla noted.

(Uu.F013/INE/KR-BSR/B/A014) 03-08-2012 18:53:39

Editor: Priyambodo RH

Source : Antara News