Indonesian minister to meet Suu Kyi over Rohingya crisis

Indonesia's foreign minister is due to meet Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday to discuss delivering humanitarian aid to members of Myanmar's Rohingya minority, as Indonesian protesters urged their government to take a tougher line.

Dozens of Indonesians protested outside the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta on Monday, calling for a cut in diplomatic ties with Myanmar over violence against its Rohingya Muslim minority.

READ more: Nearly 90,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh: UN aid workers

Aid agencies estimate that about 90,000 Rohingya have fled from Myanmar into neighbouring Bangladesh since violence erupted in the north of Rakhine state last week.

"We will discuss in detail Indonesia's proposal on how Indonesia can give humanitarian aid to Rakhine state," Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in a video statement from the Myanmar city of Yangon.

Also READ: 'Rohingya women, children being massacred by Myanmar troops'

She is also scheduled to travel to Bangladesh to urge authorities there to protect fleeing Rohingya refugees.

In a sign of mounting public anger in Jakarta, a petrol bomb was thrown at the Myanmar embassy on Sunday, causing a small fire.

The protests follow demonstrations in Malaysia and condemnation from world leaders such as President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, who on Friday said the violence against Muslims amounted to genocide.

The Rohingya are denied citizenship in Myanmar and regarded as illegal immigrants, despite claiming roots that date back centuries. Bangladesh is also growing increasingly hostile to Rohingya, more than 400,000 of whom live in the poor South Asian country after fleeing Myanmar since the early 1990s.

Indonesia is home to the world's largest population of Muslims. Its government has been actively involved in providing aid for Myanmar to develop Rakhine state and protect the rights of the Rohingya, alongside the majority Buddhist community.

Ifah Rohma, an activist from a Jakarta-based organisation called Muslim Friends of Rohingya, said many Indonesians as fellow Muslims were concerned about the fate of Rohingya.

"Indonesia should not be engaging in soft diplomacy," Rohma said outside the Myanmar embassy, which was surrounded by heavy security and barbed wire.

"Now is the time to cut ties, recall our ambassador and expel their ambassador," she said.

Myanmar says its security forces are fighting a legitimate campaign against "terrorists" responsible for a string of attacks on police posts and the army since last October.

Meanwhile,  Malala Yousafzai, the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, called on her fellow laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to condemn the "shameful" treatment of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, saying "the world is waiting" for her to speak out.

"Over the last several years, I have repeatedly condemned this tragic and shameful treatment," Malala said in a statement on Twitter. "I am still waiting for my fellow Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to do the same.

"The world is waiting and the Rohingya Muslims are waiting."

Activists from Indonesia, home to the world's biggest Muslim population, on Saturday called on the Nobel committee to withdraw Suu Kyi's peace prize during protests outside the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta, state news agency Antara reported.

The recent violence in Myanmar was set off by a coordinated attack on August 25 on dozens of police posts and an army base by Rohingya insurgents. The ensuing clashes and a major military counter-offensive have killed at least 400 people.

Myanmar officials blamed the Rohingya militants for the burning of homes and civilian deaths but rights monitors and Rohingya fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh say a campaign of arson and killings by the Myanmar army aims to force them out.

Malala, 20, came to prominence when a Taliban gunman shot her in the head in 2012 after she was targeted for her campaign against efforts by the Taliban to deny women education. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.