File Photo of ASEAN |
Open forums where all sides get a chance to explain their stances could bring about peace and reconciliation
With the term “genocide” increasingly being applied to
the Myanmar government’s brutal treatment of the ethnic Rohingya minority –
more than 700,000 of whom have been driven from their homes in western Rakhine
state into Bangladesh – it would be unusual, to say the least, if other
member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) remained
silent on the matter. Despite government efforts to bar foreign observers’
access to the “scene of the crime” in Rakhine, there have been several reports
detailing the atrocities that have been committed there, including analyses by
the United Nations, non-governmental organisations and news media.
If not genocide, there are widespread crimes against
humanity taking place. If not genocide, it is ethnic cleansing. The reports
list incidents of arson, torture, murder, rape and massacre. Hundreds of
Rohingya villages have been razed and the debris bulldozed into oblivion.
Rohingya still living in the country are routinely threatened. Myanmar wants
Bangladesh to cut off food supplies to more than 6,000 refugees stuck in the
“no man’s land” along the border. Yanghee Lee, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on
human rights in Myanmar, has on several occasions said the situation bears “the
hallmarks of genocide”. She feels unable to definitively call it genocide
before a credible international tribunal or court has a chance to weigh the
evidence, but has said, “We are seeing signs and it is building up to that.”
Late last month there was a “Berlin Conference on the Myanmar Genocide” at the
Jewish Museum in the German capital. The participating scholars, activists and
concerned citizens from around the world focused on “signs of genocide
mounting”. Lee’s caution about applying the term is understandable. The matter
does have to go before an international hearing. For now, though, the world can
proceed with a different kind of tribunal. Open forums should be organised at
which everyone involved in the crisis, including the Myanmar government and the
Tatmadaw (military), has a chance to explain and justify their role and share their observations. And Asean
is the prime agency to do the organising. To date, the 10-nation bloc has
shielded Myanmar, a member, refusing to condemn the attacks on the Rohingya,
instead merely expressing “concern” in the meekest diplomatic terminology and
offering humanitarian aid. The situation has steadily worsened in recent
months. Atrocities are still being committed, even as the government claims to
be working to resolve the crisis. Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s de factor
head of state, has appointed Surakiart Sathirathai, a former foreign minister
of Thailand, to advise her on ways to implement recommendations made by a
Rakhine mission led by Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general – recommendations
she has long ignored. Given the complexity of the crisis, everyone concedes
that Surakiart faces an uphill struggle. The difficulties in reaching a satisfactory resolution will remain in
place until all stakeholders can sit down together and listen to the opposing
viewpoints with open minds. Foreign efforts to shame Suu Kyi into ending the
atrocities have not worked, and nor has Asean’s embarrassing insistence on
saving face. An entirely fresh approach is needed to save the Rohingya, and Asean
could play a leading role in bridging the gap and coordinating an adequate
international response. It should get started immediately.