Asean bloc must step up to solve Rohingya crisis: US official
THE UNITED STATES has urged all stakeholders, including the Asean bloc, to take the proper steps to provide protection and adequate humanitarian assistance to Rohingya –those remaining in Myanmar’s Rakhine state and those in squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh.
The United States has urged all stakeholders, including the Asean bloc, to take the proper steps to provide protection and adequate humanitarian assistance to Rohingya –those remaining in Myanmar’s Rakhine state and those in squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, the Rohingya community in Thailand has called on the nation to participate in solving the crisis.
The Rohingya crisis was discussed during the 31st US-Asean dialogue in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, said US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Southeast Asia Patrick Murphy.
“The collective body of participants agreed on the need for steps to improve the delivery of humanitarian assistance, create a secure environment, particularly for very vulnerable Rohingya,” he said in a phone conference with journalists in the region.
“We also discussed the need to assist Myanmar with its transition to democracy. There was certainly an acknowledgement of the complex environment there,” he said.
Some 700,000 refugees have fled from Rakhine state since August last year when a militant group attacked Myanmar security outposts in the western state, prompting a heavy handed response under the cover of a “clearance operation” by the Tatmadaw (Myanmar military) that killed thousands of people. Rohingya have been victims of atrocities including arson, torture, murder, gang rape and massacre within their Rakhine villages and as they travelled to the Bangladesh border over the past months.
Murphy (left) is in the 31st US-Asean Diloague in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday
“We are very concerned for the plight of the Rohingya, both the populations that have fled into Bangladesh, and those that remain,” Murphy said. “This has been a massive human population movement, and it’s the result of insecurity, in some cases atrocities and abuses. And it’s been very, very troubling.”
While de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi continues to be strongly criticised over what some see as complicity in what the UN has labelled as “elements of genocide”, the international community is reluctant to undermine Myanmar’s nascent democratic government.
Murphy said the international community wants to support the government and see it come to terms with the crisis.
“Of course it’s a complex problem and it’s longstanding, and the elected government in Nay Pyi Daw has inherited this problem and they are struggling with it,” Murphy said.
The US and Asean nations want to help encourage actions that bring about protection for vulnerable populations, ensure adequate delivery of humanitarian assistance, and pave the way for repatriation so that the Rohingya can return to their homes in a safe, dignified, voluntary manner, he said.
“We also want to pursue accountability for those who have committed abuses and atrocities in order to bolster the rule of law and ensure that such events do not repeat themselves,” Murphy said.
Asked if the international community could address the Rakhine crisis at its root cause, rather than just providing humanitarian assistance, Murphy said there’s some reason to be encouraged, because the government itself had established the Kofi Annan Commission and embraced last August’s recommendations that came from that process.
The 88 “very solid” recommendations of the Commission address short, medium and long-term challenges, and if implemented, could go a long way to addressing the root causes of underdevelopment, discrimination, the lack of rights in citizenship, he said.
Suu Kyi picked Thai former foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai to lead an advisory board to implement the Annan recommendations.
Surakiart led a board meet with Aung San Suu Kyi last month and with Singapore foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan this week as they seek ways to help end the crisis with broadened Asean roles.
However Siyeed Alam, chairman of Rohingya Association in Thailand, said yesterday that Asean should allow the Rohingya communities in the region to participate in the problem-solving process.
“Asean and the Surakiart board are acting as if they are white-washing the Myanmar government,” he told The Nation. “They said they are doing it for the Rohingya but never listen to our voices.”
Meanwhile, the Rohingya community in Thailand has called on the nation to participate in solving the crisis.
The Rohingya crisis was discussed during the 31st US-Asean dialogue in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, said US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Southeast Asia Patrick Murphy.
“We also discussed the need to assist Myanmar with its transition to democracy. There was certainly an acknowledgement of the complex environment there,” he said.
Some 700,000 refugees have fled from Rakhine state since August last year when a militant group attacked Myanmar security outposts in the western state, prompting a heavy handed response under the cover of a “clearance operation” by the Tatmadaw (Myanmar military) that killed thousands of people. Rohingya have been victims of atrocities including arson, torture, murder, gang rape and massacre within their Rakhine villages and as they travelled to the Bangladesh border over the past months.
Murphy (left) is in the 31st US-Asean Diloague in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday“We are very concerned for the plight of the Rohingya, both the populations that have fled into Bangladesh, and those that remain,” Murphy said. “This has been a massive human population movement, and it’s the result of insecurity, in some cases atrocities and abuses. And it’s been very, very troubling.”
While de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi continues to be strongly criticised over what some see as complicity in what the UN has labelled as “elements of genocide”, the international community is reluctant to undermine Myanmar’s nascent democratic government.
Murphy said the international community wants to support the government and see it come to terms with the crisis.
“Of course it’s a complex problem and it’s longstanding, and the elected government in Nay Pyi Daw has inherited this problem and they are struggling with it,” Murphy said.
The US and Asean nations want to help encourage actions that bring about protection for vulnerable populations, ensure adequate delivery of humanitarian assistance, and pave the way for repatriation so that the Rohingya can return to their homes in a safe, dignified, voluntary manner, he said.
“We also want to pursue accountability for those who have committed abuses and atrocities in order to bolster the rule of law and ensure that such events do not repeat themselves,” Murphy said.
Asked if the international community could address the Rakhine crisis at its root cause, rather than just providing humanitarian assistance, Murphy said there’s some reason to be encouraged, because the government itself had established the Kofi Annan Commission and embraced last August’s recommendations that came from that process.
The 88 “very solid” recommendations of the Commission address short, medium and long-term challenges, and if implemented, could go a long way to addressing the root causes of underdevelopment, discrimination, the lack of rights in citizenship, he said.
Suu Kyi picked Thai former foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai to lead an advisory board to implement the Annan recommendations.
Surakiart led a board meet with Aung San Suu Kyi last month and with Singapore foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan this week as they seek ways to help end the crisis with broadened Asean roles.
However Siyeed Alam, chairman of Rohingya Association in Thailand, said yesterday that Asean should allow the Rohingya communities in the region to participate in the problem-solving process.
“Asean and the Surakiart board are acting as if they are white-washing the Myanmar government,” he told The Nation. “They said they are doing it for the Rohingya but never listen to our voices.”
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