KUALA LUMPUR: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will hold a series of meetings with Myanmar’s President, Thein Sein, in Nay Pyi Taw. This is indicative of the government’s willingness to discuss humanitarian issues with the organisation.
The ICRC said in a statement that its president, Peter Maurer, who had arrived in Myanmar on Sunday, will also meet other senior officials and the President of the Myanmar Red Cross Society.
Maurer described the visit as ‘an important and a significant step in strengthening ICRC’s relationship with the Myanmar authorities’.
“In the last one year, there has been significant development on various issues in which the ICRC’s expertise could benefit the people of Myanmar,” he said.
“The talks are expected to focus on the recent announcement by the government that it will allow our staff to visit detention centres,” he added.
Together with the Myanmar Red Cross Society, the ICRC had provided assistance to the sick, the wounded and displaced people from all communities.
Since June 2012, the ICRC has deployed local and foreign personnel in Sittwe, capital of Rakhine, to give support to the medical staff and the volunteers of the Red Cross.
The ICRC, a humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland, works worldwide to provide humanitarian help for people affected by conflict and armed violence and to promote the laws that protect victims of war. — Bernama