The Response of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

towards the Issues of Rohingya Refugees from Myanmar

Briyantoro Eko Yudianto

Postgraduate School, Universitas Airlangga, Jl. Dharmawangsa Dalam Selatan No. 30, Surabaya, Indonesia

Keywords: ASEAN, Persecution, Racial Discrimination, Refugee, Rohingya.

Abstract: This research aims to know, to describe, and to analyze how the response of Association of Southeast Asian

Nations (ASEAN) towards the issues of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. The Rohingya ethnic has been

suffering from violence, persecution, human rights abuse, and also discriminating treatments by Myanmar

military government. Consequently, they were forced to flee to ASEAN countries, such as Thailand,

Malaysia, and Indonesia. The approach used in this research was neoliberal institutionalism which takes

institution as a media and tool of cooperation. Moreover, this research used qualitative research method.

The sources of data were obtained from books, scientific journals, articles, online sources, and legal

documents. In collecting data, writer used data collecting technique includes literature research. The result

of the research indicates that ASEAN agrees to resolve the issues of Rohingya refugees by involving the

origin country, transit country, and destination country. Then, ASEAN eventually considers these issues in

Bali Process Forum, that is a mechanism to resolve problems relating to people smuggling and trafficking.

1 INTRODUCTION

International relations have undergone significant

changes since the end of the Cold War. The Cold

War tension was so visible in the competition

between the United States and the Soviet Union,

such as the arm race and other military upgrades

(Crockatt, 2005).

The Cold War was a time when military and

security issues were the core subjects of the

countries. The other issues, such as economics,

health, culture, or human rights, categorized as low

politics issues, were lacking or not even getting a

place in the hearts of political elites.

After the Cold War ended, the low politics issues

crawled to the surface and were able to seize

attention. The world is now focused on human rights

matters for every human being. Racial

discrimination leading to violence and persecution is

a phenomenon that is contradictory with the spirit of

democracy and human rights enforcement.

Rohingya is a minority ethnic group who inhabit

the western region of Myanmar for centuries. They

live in Rakhine state, but their physical and

linguistic features are more similar to Bengal

(Bangladesh). The Rohingyas live in Myanmar but

have no citizenship status so the Myanmar authority

refuses to recognize Rohingyas originating from

Myanmar (Kompas, 2010). Myanmar reasoned that

Rohingya is simply a group of Bangladeshis who

left their country to gain a better life, trying to win

the sympathy of Western countries by claiming

themselves as Rohingya from Myanmar (Jakarta

newspaper, 2009).

The international community subsequently urges

to address this issue immediately, especially to

ASEAN. Based on information gathered by the

Amnesty International Agency, there have been

human rights violations due to unfair and inhuman

treatments befalling to the Rohingyas (Surya, 2010).

The United Nations and other human rights

organizations have reported the existence of

Rohingyas who have been discriminated for being

Muslim since decades ago. They are forced to

become slave workers. They have no rights over

land and assets as property rights. They are also

constantly subjected to atrocity by the police, getting

sentenced to imprisonment, and other ruthless

treatments (Angen, 2009).

As a result of various tortures received from

Myanmar's military junta, the Rohingyas then run

away and fled to neighboring countries. They also

used boats and crossed the Indian Ocean, so that

sometimes these refugees are referred to as "boat

people". Some of them were stranded on the west

712

Yudianto, B.

The Response of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) towards the Issues of Rohingya Refugees from Myanmar.

DOI: 10.5220/0007550207120715

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference Postgraduate School (ICPS 2018), pages 712-715

ISBN: 978-989-758-348-3

coast of Malaysia and some were up to Indonesia’s

waters.

The issue of Rohingya refugees is a regional

problem in Southeast Asia, so it is the moral

responsibility of the ASEAN to handle it. The

refugee issue can lead to predicaments for transit

and destination countries. ASEAN is expected to

take a proper response or policy so that this issue

would be over immediately.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Refugee

The United Nations High Commissioners for

Refugees (UNHCR) defines prolonged refugee

situation as a situation in which refugees find

themselves abandoned or wasted, and this has been a

long or protracted one (Loescher & Milner, 2005).

This condition makes them unable to fulfill their

needs for basic rights, economic and psychological

needs. Even they are difficult to get help from

outsiders, so most of them decided to flee.

Refugee is a status recognized by international

laws (Havid, 2004). According to article 1 of the

1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of

Refugees, refugee is a person who is outside his or

her home country or habitual residence, having a

legitimate fear of being harassed as a result of their

race, religion, membership in a particular social

group or political opinion which they embrace, and

is unable or unwilling to obtain protection from the

home country, or to return there, for fear of

persecution (UNHCR, 2010).

2.2 International Organization

Rapid development in the form and pattern of

cooperation through international organization has

increasingly highlighted the role of international

organization. Nevertheless, the state remains the

most dominant actor in the form of international

cooperation.

The international organization should have a

clear and complete organizational structure and

carry out its functions on an ongoing basis.

However, international organization can be

manifested through a treaty or agreement only.

International organizations can play their role as

a tool for the parties to negotiate. They can also be

equated as a part of market where its inhabitants

meet to discuss, trade, and resolve disputes in it

(Archer, 2001). ASEAN itself is a regional-based

international organization located in Southeast Asia.

2.3 Neoliberal Institutionalism

According to Peter M. Haas, Robert O. Keohane,

and Marc A. Levy, as quoted by Lamy (2005),

neoliberal institutionalism views an institution as a

collection of interminable rules. Institution may take

the form of organizations, bureaucratic agencies,

treaties or agreements, and informal practices

binding its members or parties. Neoliberal

institutionalism focuses on economic and

environmental issue, and also on the human rights

issue recently. These issues are classified as low

politics issues and neoliberal institutionalism

assumptions are the most appropriate ones if used as

an approach in this research.

Neoliberal institutionalism regards that the

subject can be addressed through a form of

cooperation, which can be achieved through the

establishment of an institution (Burchill, 2005).

International organizations are believed to help to

address regional and global concerns, and to

prioritize cooperation rather than triggering conflict

(Keohane, 2004).

Neoliberal institutionalism views institution as a

mediator and tool for achieving cooperation in the

international system. This cooperation is expected to

secure the national interests of each country. In this

case, the countries in Southeast Asia use ASEAN as

a platform to overcome Rohingya refugee problems

among its members.

3 METHODS

The method used in this research is qualitative

research method. According to Creswell (2004),

qualitative research method ia a research process for

understanding human or social issues presented in

words and reporting detailed views obtained from

informed sources.

The used data sources derived from secondary

data, such as books, scientific journals, articles,

online sources, documents, and other data related to

the topic of the research problem. Literature study

has been conducted in several libraries and related

institutions to obtain the secondary data.

4 RESULTS

Rohingya is a minority ethnic residing in the state of

Arakan (now Rakhine). This ethnic has undergone

through a profound history. At the beginning of the

century when Muslim traders from Arab came

and settled in Arakan (Kyaw, 2008). Currently, there

The Response of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) towards the Issues of Rohingya Refugees from Myanmar

713

are still about 800,000 Rohingyas living in

Myanmar. The Rohingyas are physically,

linguistically, and culturally closer to the people of

South Asia (Rismayati, 2009).

The majority of them is not recognized as

Myanmar citizens. They are forced to work at the

government-owned or military infrastructure sites

(Head, 2009). As a result, they end up lacking of

time to earn income for daily life and to feed their

own families.

They are prohibited from access to health and

educational service. In 1994, the Myanmar

government stopped issuing birth certificates for

Rohingya’s children. The mobility of Rohingya is

also restricted. Even if they want to go to a

neighboring village, they must enclose travel card

and are required to pay it (Lewa, 2009).

Such arbitrary and discriminatory treatments

have made the Rohingyas become mentally

depressed, forcing them to leave Myanmar to seek

better security and livelihood in other countries

(Rismayati, 2009). The countries where they decided

to transit or settle are Bangladesh, , Pakistan, Saudi

Arabia, China, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, and

Indonesia.

5 DISCUSSION

ASEAN essentially supports the settlement of

Rohingya refugees problems. ASEAN should be

worried because the Rohingyas can be a burden for

the countries where they transit or settle. ASEAN's

concern towards the Rohingyas is proven by

addressing this issue to the regional level. ASEAN

then discussed the issues of Rohingya refugees

through the Bali Process mechanism.

The Bali Process is a conference that addresses

the mechanisms of resolution on the issue of illegal

and human trafficking, people smuggling, and

transnational crimes. In this forum, ASEAN agreed

to resolve the Rohingya issue by involving the origin

country, transit countries, and destination countries.

However, despite of agreeing to deliberate the

Rohingya issue into a regional context, ASEAN is

less able to act more firmly against Myanmar

because it’s obstructed by the existence of non-

intervention principle within ASEAN itself. This

principle is already often becoming a barrier for

ASEAN to interfere in the domestic affairs of its

member countries.

Moreover, the issue of Rohingya refugees is only

considered as a part of people smuggling and

trafficking, not a matter of a group of people who

suffered human rights abuses and severe opression

by Myanmar's military junta (Jagan, 2009).

The ASEAN Secretary-General at that time Surin

Pitsuwan stated that the Rohingya issue is not on the

ASEAN’s official agenda but it would still be

discussed in an informal meeting among ASEAN

countries (The Irrawady, 2009).

There are two international laws governing the

issue of refugees, namely the 1951 Convention

Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967

Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. ASEAN

countries, especially those who directly impacted by

the Rohingyas arrival—Indonesia, Malaysia, and

Thailand—unfortunately have not ratified these two

rules, thus assuming that UNHCR doesn’t need to

interfere on this matter. Only Cambodia and

Philippines who have been the state parties to the

convention and the protocol (UNTC, 2018). As a

result, ASEAN coordination with UNHCR and

International Organization for Migration (IOM) isn’t

well established. The issue of Rohingya is still

unresolved until now.

In accordance to the neoliberal institutionalism

assumptions, ASEAN is used as an instrument to

resolve problems among its members. They met in a

summit forum and made the Rohingya issue as one

of the topics of the conference, although it was not

really intense. It has been seen the efforts of ASEAN

member countries to resolve the issue of refugees

through ASEAN’s intermediaries. The issue of

refugees is included in the low politics level, but

ASEAN countries continue to view that the low

politics issues such as human rights violations can

pose a threat to ASEAN, and particularly to the

national interests of each member country.

Referring to the neoliberal institutionalism

assumptions, ASEAN is being a facilitator in the

policy-making process of Rohingya refugees by

encouraging more solid cooperation at regional

level.

6 CONCLUSIONS

ASEAN addressed the issues of Rohingya refugees

from Myanmar by bringing up the issue to the

regional level. ASEAN views that this issue is not in

line with the spirit of human rights and democracy

enforcement contained in the ASEAN Charter which

was just agreed in December 2008.

In the settlement process, ASEAN agreed to

involve the origin country, transit country, and

destination country. However, this issue was not

included in the official agenda of the ASEAN

Summit. This issue would still be discussed in an

informal meeting between ASEAN countries.

The displacement of Rohingya migrating from

Myanmar is only considered as a phenomenon of

ICPS 2018 - 2nd International Conference Postgraduate School

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people smuggling. Almost all ASEAN countries

don’t ratify the convention and the protocol relating

to refugees, so they are lack of understanding about

the concept of refugee. They automatically consider

the Rohingyas only as illegal or economic migrants

who fled from their home country merely to pursue a

better living. The issues of Rohingya refugees have

not yet reached a definite solution. ASEAN member

countries should need to ratify the international laws

dealing with refugee issues so that they will

understand more how to handle Rohingya refugees

appropriately.

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