Thai opinion: Litmus test for ASEAN: the new boat people crisis

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REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Litmus test for ASEAN: the new boat people crisis
Kavi Chongkittavorn
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- For years, before the monsoon season begins in July, boatloads of refugees from the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Bengal have sailed south to the seas of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. They come from the Muslim communities in Bangladesh and Rakhine State in Myanmar. Whatever names they are being called, apart from the much-debated Rohingya, the challenge has always been there.

But the latest atrocities inflicted on the boat people have reached an intolerable level where all concerned parties, their eyes long turned in other directions, could no longer stay idle. Now all want to be good Samaritans.

Apart from this current crisis, other similar situations elsewhere - ie. asylum seekers in North Africa, also share this pattern of engagement starting with disclaiming, blaming and shaming. Eventually, given the scale of the problems, collective efforts including burden-sharing are unavoidable because no country can do it alone. The approach taken by the European Union was a good case in point.

Thanks to the global outcries manifested through news headlines calling for concerted assistance, suddenly there is new willingness and accommodating policies. That kind of expediency does come with the desire to turn "crisis into opportunity" and preserve national interest at all cost.

Thailand, the frontline state for asylum seekers in mainland Southeast Asia, was naturally the first target for criticism and condemnation as always at the outbreak of crises. It has been in this Catch-22 situation since the 1970s when the region was plagued with conflicts that drove people away from their homes, by both land and sea.

At the recent Kuala Lumpur meeting on irregular migrants, Thailand's recalcitrance was due to longstanding lack of confidence in international bodies, especially the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which often came with a long-list of demands andhumanitarian reasons, but failed then to live up to its commitment and local criteria, causing further misgivings in the host country. Such give and take collaboration should have been more effective and amicable given more than four decades of engagement - if sensitive and caring officials were assigned on both sides.

In retrospect, both Malaysia and Indonesia were smarter as they responded to international pressure in a timely manner and offered prompt humanitarian assistance and temporary shelter, which were absent previously. They were immediately praised - while Thailand was left black-eyed for its demeanour in thinking of a long-term solution.

The meeting in Bangkok on Friday was truly the first international attempt to find a collective and durable solution for one of the world's most persecuted people.

Previous efforts were ineffective because Myanmar was not involved. Thanks to more relaxed Thai-Myanmar relations and the latter's desire to preserve its hard-earned regional and international reputation since 2011, Nay Pyi Taw took part in the meeting - even though with little change to its traditional approach. Therefore, this is an opportune time for Asean to step into the process and push up the pressure.

In October 2012, Asean tried but failed to respond to an earlier exodus. Following hot on the heels of a blunder to issue a joint communique by the grouping, the Asean chair at that time, Cambodia, called for a special foreign ministers meeting on the Rohingya in Phnom Penh. This went unheeded. Myanmar immediately rebuked and condemned the meeting as a violation of the non-interference principle.

Fortunately, this time around the Bangkok meeting was different - driven by a sense of urgency and common guilt as last week's meeting revealed. Both Bangladesh and Myanmar could no longer act as bystanders and agreed to tackle the root causes.

In months and years to come, the encompassing migrant issue will further test the Asean spirit - pushing or delaying the integration process of the Asean Community. As such, Asean will need extraordinary goodwill to engage all members and interpret the non-interference principle in ways that facilitate and ensure a sustainable regional solution without creating barriers.

The current Asean chair, Prime Minister Tunku Razak Najib and the democratic-minded Indonesian President Joko Widodo, the two leading moderate Muslim countries, must take the lead together and add this challenge to the Asean agenda. The Asean chair is planning to host a ministerial conference on transnational crime that will include human trafficking.

Asean has to be the champion as this is a litmus test of Asean centrality and whether the 48-year-old body has what it takes. It must act as a group with one voice, otherwise it will send the wrong signal to dialogue partners on other critical issues such as climate change and the South China Sea dispute.

Thailand was quite happy with the meeting, even though the three outlined objectives have been partially met. Already, global awareness has increased greatly. Most importantly, surveillance, plus search and rescue efforts were underway well before the meeting to help those stranded at sea.

The Thai and US joint naval and air force teams have closely cooperated, ignoring their current political bickering, for common causes. The Thai navy, often demonised in the past for its stringent patrols, is suddenly being treated as the good guys. Recently, Thailand also launched integrated special taskforces, known as the Operation Centre for Patrol and Human Assistance for Irregular Migrants in the Indian Ocean, to help with search and rescue efforts.

The second objective, which is more problematic, is to combat the long-term problem of people smuggling and trafficking. Additional assistance from international communities is urgently needed.

If history is any judge, such longstanding commitments, especially on the financial side, often get stuck in mid-term when media-exposure is not there, coupled with domestic dynamics. The funds pledged by donors at the Bangkok meeting was minute; more will be needed in the future.

The last objective is to eradicate the root cause of the migrants' woes. This is most difficult as it depends on the attitude and policies of the countries involved, Bangladesh and Myanmar most notably. Moreover, effort has to be undertaken to improve the lives of these people to stop them wanting to leave for other countries. Otherwise, these desperate groups could be targeted as recruits for violent extremists.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/litmus-test-for-ASEAN-the-new-boat-people-crisis-30261340.html


-- The Nation 2015-06-01

[oneday]

"...while Thailand was left black-eyed for its demeanour in thinking of a long-term solution..."

OMG, what total unmitigated hogwash.

[Srikcir]

Let's be fair. It isn't just Thailand but the whole ASEAN that failed the litmust test.

Discussion, action, and resolution was motivated by major democratic nations and the UN leadership. Their criticisms and immediate humantarian assistance appeared to simply embarrass the ASEAN nations into specifically addressing the issue and taking action. However, I suspect the real motivation is that it is the major democratic nations to who ASEAN exports. China and Russia cannot possibly make up for any export losses.

In the year that ASEAN becomes an economic and political reality, this is a sad beginning. For Thailand it is merely an irritant - save face.