THE Association of Southeast Asian Nations has chosen to remain silent on what the United Nations has condemned as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing” by one of its own members, Myanmar, against the minority Rohingya Muslims living in Rakhine State.
Not a single word in the 28-page chairman’s statement from the 31st Asean Summit condemned Myanmar for allowing its security forces to carry out a brutal campaign marked by murder and rape that has driven 600,000 Rohingya refugees from their homes into neighboring Bangladesh.
Against this backdrop, the chairman’s statement merely urged Myanmar to “continue to implement the recommendations of the final report of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State.”
“They [The Asean] welcomed the commitment by Myanmar authorities to ensure the safety of civilians, take immediate steps to end the violence in Rakhine, take immediate steps to end the violence in Rakhine, restore normal socio-economic conditions, and address the refugee problem through verification process,” the statement said.
The statement even failed to mention the exodus of Rohingya Muslims.
The customary joint communique only mentioned the importance of humanitarian relief provided for victims of natural disasters in Vietnam; the recent siege between the Philippine government and Maute Goup in Marawi City, Mindanao; and the “affected communities” in northern Rakhine state.
The 28-page draft was crafted by the Philippines, this year’s current chair of the 31st Asean Summit, and the nine other member state, who met for a plenary session in Manila on Monday.
Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi had asked the leaders to avoid mentioning the Rohingya Muslim minority.
The Asean also stated that it expressed support to the Myanmar government n its effort to “bring peace, stability, rule of law and to promote harmony and reconciliation between the various communities as well as sustainable and equitable development in Rakhine State.
There was no mention of accountability for human rights violations against the Rohingya minority.
More than 600,000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh to escape murder and destruction of villages in the Western state of Rakhine.
The Rohingyas, a stateless Muslim minority in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, have long experienced persecutions as they are believed to be illegal immigrants.
Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been facing international pressure for her handling of the violence against Rohingyas.
Meanwhile, the Asean chairman’s statement also ignored allegations of human rights violations in the war on drugs, and merely said it “welcomes the assistance of its dialogue partners and other external parties in addressing the drug problem in the region.”
It maintained that each Asean country should still have the final say on how to address their own national drug situations.
“Recognizing that the illicit-drug problem is affecting not only Asean Member States, but also other countries outside the region, we welcome the assistance of Dialogue Partners and other external parties in addressing this problem through capacity-building, intelligence information sharing, and other forms of cooperation,” the statement said.
It said all forms of cooperation must be “consistent with relevant international laws and all the while preserving the sovereign right of countries in deciding the most appropriate approaches to address their national drug situations.”
President Rodrigo Duterte has remained hostile to criticism of his bloody war on drugs that has claimed thousands of lives, cursing critics and for interfering in a domestic issue.
