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AI urges ASEAN to include Rohingya issue in 14th Summit |
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by Salai Pi Pi
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Thursday, 26 February 2009 22:28 |
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Amnesty International has called on leaders of Southeast Asian Nations to formally include the Rohingya refugee issue as part of the agenda, during the three-day regional summit, due to begin on Friday in Thailand.
UK-based Amnesty International on Wednesday said if the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders were to demonstrate their commitment to the newly drafted Charter, the human rights situation in Burma should top the agenda during the summit.
"Myanmar [Burma] needs to be the primary point of reference at the summit, when leaders are considering human rights mechanisms with a human rights body," Benjamin Zawacki, AI’s Southeast Asia researcher told Mizzima on Thursday.
AI’s call came after ASEAN’s Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan on Thursday said, the Rohingya issue will not feature as a formal agenda during the summit, but would be discussed informally at bilateral meetings.
However, Zawacki said it was disappointing that ASEAN leaders were excluding the Rohingya issue from the summit, which in recent months had become a regional concern.
"We are surprised and extremely disappointed to hear that the Rohingya issue will not be formally discussed at the summit," Zawacki said.
The 10-nation members of ASEAN in December ratified a charter, which pledged to protect human rights and promote democracy in the region.
However, the charter maintains ASEAN’s tradition of non-interference in member states, and does not have provisions for the punishment of states if they contravene it.
Donna Guest, Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific Deputy Director in a press release on Wednesday said, the dire human rights situation in Burma, was one of the challenges a future ASEAN human rights body was facing.
“Violations in this ASEAN member state, have been going on for decades, and include crimes against humanity. To be worthy of its name, the body must be empowered to effectively address human rights in Myanmar,” Guest said.
The ASEAN member countries, which traditionally follow a non-interference policy, view the human rights problems in Burma as the country’s domestic affair.
The Rohingya issue came to be in the international media spotlight after reports emerged in December and January that several hundreds of Rohingya migrants were rescued from the sea in India’s Andaman Island and Indonesia’s Aceh province.
According to survivors, they were first caught by the Thai Army, who after briefly detaining them and destroying engines of their boats, towed them back into the sea, an allegation that Thailand has denied.
Authorities in Sabang Island of Indonesia said, they had rescued over 400 Rohingya refugees from the sea. Similarly, Indian authorities in Andaman Island told Mizzima that they had rescued nearly 200 Rohingya migrants from the sea.
Zawacki said, the recent crisis of the Rohingya refugees, a Muslim minority from western Burma, was not simply a domestic problem, but a regional one.
"If ASEAN cannot address human rights problems in Burma, it will signify its failure to enforce a human rights mechanism," Zawacki said.
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