Jakarta (ANTARA) - Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi highlighted the fate and condition of Rohingya refugees during the MIKTA (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, and Australia) foreign ministers’ meeting in New York on Thursday.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry said in a written statement released on Friday.

During the meeting, Marsudi drew attention to the condition of Rohingya refugees, which has not improved but tended to worsen.

Over 1.1 million Rohingya refugees are currently residing in the Bangladeshi southeastern district of Cox’s Bazar, and they are vulnerable to human trafficking and radicalism, she said.


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The effort to resolve the issue of Rohingya refugees is difficult due to the situation in Myanmar, which has not made progress in implementing the five-point consensus it agreed upon with ASEAN leaders, she added.

The five-point consensus includes an immediate halt to violence in Myanmar, dialogue among all relevant parties in Myanmar, the appointment of a special envoy to Myanmar, distribution of ASEAN humanitarian aid to Myanmar, and the ASEAN special envoy's visit to Myanmar for meeting all parties.

Speaking on the social protection issue, which became the topic of the MIKTA meeting, Marsudi underscored the importance of expanding social protection coverage at the national level and narrowing disparities in social security coverage among countries.


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At the meeting, the foreign ministers stressed the commitment of MIKTA to make concrete contributions to efforts to overcome humanitarian crises in several countries, especially to help improve social protection in anticipating future crises.

MIKTA is an informal middle power partnership led by the foreign ministers of Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, and Australia. Indonesia will chair the grouping in 2023.

MIKTA was created in 2013 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York and aims to support effective global governance.


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Translator: Yuni Arisandy Si, Suharto
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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