The Limits and Possibilities of the ASEAN Way: The Case of Rohingya as Humanitarian Issue in Southeast Asia

Abstract

The ASEAN Way has been considered by many academics as the most problematic, yet superior principles in ASEAN decision and policy-making process. The principles highly emphasize on traditional concept sovereignty of its member states, which leads to the perception of ASEAN's inability to reconcile the ASEAN Way and humanitarianism.In this research, despite the two competing perspectives of whether the ASEAN Way is hindering or enhancing the ability of ASEAN to settle conflicts, this research argues that the extent to which the ASEAN Way becomes limitation or accelerator depends on the nature of the conflict. Not to deny that the ASEAN Way may be the only possible mechanism to approach Myanmar, but the ASEAN Way itself is not enough because there is a tendency for ASEAN members turning 'a blind eye' towards a conflict that does not reach into the surface or there is no proper discussion about it.To support the argument, this research will illustrate the above-mentioned argument through the recent case of massive Rohingya human rights prosecution that results in the biggest crisis in sea after Indo-China. This research will do so by; first, exploring the nature of the ASEAN way and second, applying the conceptual discussion to the case of Rohingya in order to show the limits of the ASEAN way in this particular case.

The Rohingya Refugee Crisis in Southeast Asia: Asean’s Role and Way Forward

“…This is because, it requires Myanmar's agreement for any action within the ASEAN framework regarding political and legal aspects of the Rohingya issue (Morada, 2021). This so-called ASEAN Way, which accentuates on respect for sovereignty, is indeed the long-term challenge for ASEAN and is problematic as described by observers and academics (Tobing, 2018). ASEAN Way has become the limitation in which ASEAN is unable to implement effective approaches to find any tangible solution to the conflict.…”

“…While the international community refers to the prosecuted minority in Rakhine states as Rohingya, Myanmar however refuses to recognize them and rejects using of the term "Rohingya" when referring to the minority group (Thuzar, 2019). De-facto leader of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi insisted that the term "Rohingya" was never constituted in Myanmar's Citizenship Law, hence, must not be used (Tobing, 2018). Therefore, the issue of Rohingya refugees is only recognized as an issue of people smuggling or trafficking (Moretti, 2021).…”

“…The unresolved issue of citizenship evidently will trigger more atrocities and acts of violence towards the Rohingya people, impeding numerous international and regional approaches to tackle the refugee crisis. The status of 'statelessness' has left the Rohingya minority vulnerable to persecution including violation of basic human rights, limited freedom of movement, forced displacement, and restricted access to education (Tobing, 2018). Therefore, the government of Myanmar must first deal with the matter of citizenship for the Rohingya minority if they wish to prove their commitment to resolve this conflict.…”

The Rohingya Refugee Crisis: A Threat to Peace and Security in South Asia

“…The ASEAN's non-interference policy has incapacitated it from playing any role in resolving the Rohingya crisis and even kept the Rohingya agenda out of the ASEAN foreign-ministers meeting. Consequently, this has foiled any attempt to resolve the alarming abuse of the Rohingya people (Kundu, 2015;Tobing, 2018). In this regard, it is no exaggeration to state that such policy has also fuelled the discrimination against the Rohingya people not only in Myanmar but also across other Asian and Southeast Asian countries.…”

“…The Rohingya refugee crisis is a major humanitarian crisis in the history of the modern world (Tobing, 2018;Ullah, 2016). The Rohingya people are the marginalised Muslim residents of Rakhine State in Myanmar who were forced to…”