§ Mr. McDonnellTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will make a statement on violence against Christians in Indonesia and the potential for a United Nations peace initiative; [148576]
487W(2) what recent representations his Department has made to the Indonesian Government concerning violence directed at Christians in Indonesia. [148575]
§ Mr. BattleThe latest violence in Ambon illustrates the fragility of the security situation at a time when there had been some recent improvements; the Muslim and Christian holidays in December passed without serious incident in Ambon.
Our Ambassador to Indonesia has just returned from a visit to the province and the Indonesian Minister for Settlement is arranging a further visit to Maluku with a group of diplomats this month. We will continue to work with the Indonesian authorities and UNDP to promote reconciliation, begin wider construction work and to offer practical assistance where appropriate.
We continue to urge the Indonesian Government to exercise tolerance and restraint and remind them of their responsibility to maintain law and order and take immediate steps to bring the perpetrators of the violence to justice. I did so most recently with Foreign Minister Shihab on 12 December.