Asean members back Surakiart board on Rakhine crisis
Asean foreign ministers at a meeting yesterday in Singapore fully backed efforts by the former Thai foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai in his efforts to address the Rohingya crisis after a minor rift within the advisory board recently.
The group urged Myanmar to continue to implement the recommendations in the final report made by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan’s Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, said Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, who chaired the meeting yesterday.
Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi appointed Surakiart to chair an advisory board for the implementation of the recommendations.
“We welcomed the establishment of the advisory board for the implementation of the recommendations on Rakhine state led in his individual capacity by Professor Surakiart,” Vivian said.
The Rohingya crisis erupted in August last year when a militant group attacked Myanmar’s security outposts in Rakhine state, prompting a harsh reaction from Myanmar military, which killed hundreds and displaced more than 750,000 people to Bangladesh.
A rift in the Surakiart board was seen last month during its first meeting with Suu Kyi when former US ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson quit and voiced accusations against the board for “cheerleading” for Suu Kyi and failing to address the problem at its fundamental root causes.
Surakiart rejected the allegation, saying he looked at positive and constructive angles to end the crisis.
Asean maintained its stance to continue support for humanitarian relief in Rakhine state and welcomed the repatriation of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh as arranged by Dhaka and Nya Pyi Taw.
The group also supported the Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management’s ongoing work with the Myanmar government-led mechanism to deliver humanitarian assistance to all displaced persons without discrimination.
Asean members also looked forward to the beginning of voluntary repatriation of displaced persons to Myanmar in a “safe, secure and dignified way without undue delay”, Vivian said in a statement after the meeting.
However, ministers of the grouping also stressed the need to find a comprehensive and durable solution to address the root causes of the conflict and create a conducive environment so that the affected communities could rebuild their lives, he said.