The Jakarta Post - The plight of the Myanmarese

Wednesday, January 21, 2009 1:10 PM
The Jakarta Post - The plight of the Myanmarese
Rizal Sukma , Jakarta | Wed, 01/21/2009 11:56 AM | Opinion

After Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar last year, very few in the region took notice of the continuing plight and suffering of the Myanmarese. It was overshadowed by other events in the region and in other parts of the world.

Indeed, after ASEAN’s “success” in persuading the Myanmarese junta to accept ASEAN-led international assistance in May last year, it seems that many of us uncritically assume that things are back to “normal” in that country.

The reality, however, is completely the opposite. We are beginning to see worrying signs that things might have actually gotten worse in the country.

On Jan. 7, 193 Myanmarese of the Rohingya tribe drifted at sea for weeks before finally landing on Indonesia’s province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam. According to one of the refugees, there were about 400 who left the military-controlled state on the same day (The Jakarta Post, Jan. 10, 2009).

Last week, India’s coast guard and navy rescued hundreds of Myanmarese refugees at sea. However, hundreds of others that left at the same time have either drowned or are still lost at sea.

Drifting for weeks on the open sea, however, was not the only torment they faced. They had previously landed on Thailand’s island of Koh Sai Daeng. Instead of rescuing and helping the refugees, Thai navy guards beat them up before forcing them back to sea (The Straits Times, Jan. 17, 2009).

Instead of treating them as victims of the brutal military regime in their country, local Thai authorities treated them as unwanted criminals.

ASEAN countries should no longer close their eyes, turn their backs and ignore the problem. This is not the first time that scores of people have fled Myanmar.

On Dec. 27 India rescued 107 Myanmarese survivors on the Andaman Sea. In April 2006, 77 Myanmarese refugees landed in Aceh after drifting at sea for weeks.

The refugees leave Myanmar for one reason only: They can no longer bear life in their country. Most of the refugees are Rohingyas – a Muslim ethnic group from the Arakan state of Myanmar.

This ethnic group, along with many other minorities in Myanmar, has been subject to severe human rights abuses at the hands of the military junta. Myanmar even denies their right to citizenship which makes them “stateless.”

ASEAN should no longer hesitate to tell the generals in their luxurious palaces in Nyapidaw that this is no longer Myanmar’s internal affair.

It has gone on too long for ASEAN to tolerate such unacceptable practices by the junta against its own people. ASEAN should explain to the junta that when their people flee oppression and end up in other countries, it becomes a transnational issue.

ASEAN should tell the junta that when a problem becomes transnational and the business of ASEAN. There is indeed an urgency to explain to the junta the meaning of the provision on “the protection of human rights” in the ASEAN Charter.

If ASEAN as an institution cannot do this simple task, then Indonesia should. If we are really serious as we are proud of being the third largest democracy in the world, Indonesia should bring this problem to the ASEAN table.

As a country that has received hundreds of refugees from Myanmar, we have the right, and indeed the obligation, to tell the Myanmarese junta to stop persecuting their own people.

We do not need to invoke the fact that the Rohingyas are Muslims. We should base our response to the problem on universal values of fundamental rights, justice and humanity.

The Rohingyas, the Karen, the Wa and indeed millions of Myanmarese, are putting their hope in us, in ASEAN and in the world. We have been too lenient towards the military junta in Myanmar and that is no longer acceptable.

The so-called “ASEAN Way” no longer works in this regard. The attitude of Thai authorities, which initially denied the ill-treatment against the refugees until photographic evidence made headlines in the media, needs to be rectified. Beating up refugees and pushing them back to sea is not an ASEAN value. The ASEAN Charter, which is celebrated as a magic formula for a better ASEAN, cannot help millions of Myanmarese.

What could help the plight of the Myanmarese is the willingness and determination of Indonesia, and other like-minded countries in ASEAN, to begin serious efforts to find a solution to the problem.

They should begin by asking ASEAN to have a common strategy on how to deal with a recalcitrant member state.

Indonesia should bring this agenda to the ASEAN summit next month in Thailand. As for now, let us just hope that someone in our government does care.

The writer is the Deputy Executive Director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta.