A collective of Asean lawmakers expressed disappointment yesterday over the lack of commitments made at the briefing for Asean foreign ministers on Rakhine State in Yangon on Monday, which was hosted by Myanmar Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi.
Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) called for a stronger regional response to human rights abuses in Rakhine State and urged member governments to comply with their obligations to protect human rights under the Asean Charter.
“Through continued inaction, Asean risks failing the people at its center. This meeting should have been an opportunity to take decisive action to protect vulnerable civilians and hold the Myanmar government and military accountable. Unfortunately, though not unexpectedly, it seems it was largely an act of political theater,” said APHR chairperson Charles Santiago, a member of the Malaysian Parliament.
“Sadly, Asean foreign ministers caved to Aung San Suu Kyi’s sweet talk and have seemingly put the Rohingya issue on the back burner. That’s bad news for the tens of thousands of Rohingya still trapped without aid access in Rakhine State, and it’s bad news for the region, which will ultimately pay the price for Myanmar’s inability or unwillingness to properly address the situation. The bottom line is that evidence and scores of reports of abuses fell on deaf ears.”
The meeting on Monday concluded without any clear commitments from the Myanmar government other than a pledge update Asean counterparts on developments in Rakhine State. Asean foreign ministers offered humanitarian assistance but stopped short of criticizing the Myanmar government’s actions against the Rohingya civilian population in Rakhine State.
One notable exception was Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman. In his statement during the meeting, which the Malaysian foreign ministry has published, he expressed “grave concern” over “reports from many sources alleging arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings including of children, rape by soldiers, burning of Rohingya villages as well as destruction of homes and places of worship”.
He also invoked the 2015 Rohingya refugee crisis while declaring that the Myanmar government’s actions against the minority group constitute a “regional concern.” He called for immediate humanitarian access to Rakhine State, as well as for Asaen to establish an independent group of experts to investigate the situation there.
“It was encouraging to hear that the Malaysian minister highlighted alleged abuses and raised the prospect of an ASEAN investigating team made up of independent experts. Yet it appears this call too fell on deaf ears in Yangon. That’s unfortunate because such an inquiry, if truly independent, would contribute to revealing the truth and ensuring that abuses are not met with impunity,” Santiago said.
In a statement following the meeting, the Myanmar government expressed its “readiness to grant necessary humanitarian access,” but failed to outline a specific plan for doing so after weeks of similar promises to remove blocks on aid to tens of thousands of Rakhine State residents. The government statement also emphasized the need for “time and space” to resolve the situation.
“It is beyond disappointing to see Aung San Suu Kyi, formerly revered as a democratic icon, sit before her ASEAN counterparts and plead for ‘time and space.’ The Rohingya civilians facing the brunt of the onslaught in northern Rakhine State don’t have the luxury of time and space,” said Walden Bello, an APHR Board Member and former member of congress from the Philippines.
“Certainly there are complex long-term issues to be resolved in Rakhine State. But that complexity should not be used as an excuse to allow for the wholesale slaughter and abuse of civilians. What these people need right now is protection. Regional leaders must step up and not hide behind the usual ASEAN diplomatic niceties.”
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