Refugee Crisis: More Rohingya lost at sea, is ASEAN doing enough?

AWANI

Search efforts continue for Rohingya refugees lost at sea after another perilous escape. Rights advocate Debbie Stothard is urging ASEAN to act immediately, warning the crisis is reaching a breaking point.

Transcript

00:00The search continues for Rohingya refugees lost at sea after yet another dangerous journey in search of safety.

00:08As the crisis deepens, pressure is mounting on the region to respond.

00:13Human rights advocate Debbie Stottart, founder of Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma,

00:19is calling on ASEAN nation to take immediate action,

00:22warning the situation is growing increasingly dire and urgent.

00:26Now, in recent years, what we've seen disturbingly is that more women and children are getting on the boats.

00:39Everyone knows that getting on a boat, for Rohingya people to get on a boat,

00:45and these are not exactly ships or very seaworthy vessels to try and get to Malaysia and Indonesia,

00:54it is a very big risk, and there's a very high danger of dying at sea.

01:04But we saw that the situation in the refugee camps in Bangladesh,

01:11and more importantly, the situation in Arakan, Arakan State,

01:15was getting so bad that women and children were taking the risk.

01:21So, it was very difficult because in the camps in Bangladesh,

01:28the murder rate had already risen to 10 times the murder rate of Malaysia.

01:34While ASEAN continues to push its five-point consensus peace plan with Myanmar's junta,

01:40she warns the approach is deeply flawed as it continues to ignore the ongoing neglect and persecution of the Rohingya.

01:47We also need to understand the Rohingya, the treatment of the Rohingya and the genocide of the Rohingya

01:56is really one of the starting points of the coup.

02:02The military was able to get away with the genocide,

02:05and therefore, they had no problems, start launching a coup,

02:10and doing very similar atrocity crimes to other people in other areas,

02:16not just ethnic minorities,

02:18but also the Berman majority themselves were targeted with atrocity crimes.

02:23So, I think, you know, the five-point consensus is problematic

02:29because it doesn't take into account the Rohingya,

02:33and it doesn't take into account the political prisoners in the country,

02:37and there's still at least 23,000 people currently being detained in Myanmar's jails as political prisoners.

02:47Debbie calls on ASEAN to adopt an approach that centers on its responsibility

02:52to protect those fleeing persecution and conflict.

02:56ASEAN needs to have a more practical approach

03:01which recognizes and allows refugees in their territory to work.

03:09They need to recognize that they do have a responsibility to protect.

03:14When ASEAN talks about responsibility to protect,

03:18it doesn't mean sending peacekeepers to Myanmar.

03:21It just means, you know,

03:23to start with as a most basic responsibility to protect

03:28is to protect those fleeing genocide and atrocity crimes

03:32who are currently in your jurisdiction.

03:36Make sure they have access to civilian protection.

03:39Make sure they have a chance to rebuild their lives

03:42and to contribute back to our broader community

03:45and our national economies.

03:47That's a very basic and practical approach.

03:52And also ASEAN needs to also understand

03:55they do have a collective responsibility

03:58to address the root causes

04:00that force all these people to leave,

04:03to flee from their country.

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