FORUM-ASIA issued a press statement on 3 February 2009 on the recent Rohingya issue. The organisation urged the Thailand government to include the ongoing democracy crisis in Burma in its proposed Regional Conference on the afflicted boat people, and called on the governments of Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand to cease deporting refugees back to Burma as this puts them in great political risk at the hands of the military junta.

FORUM-ASIA issued a press statement on 3 February 2009 on the recent
Rohingya issue. The organisation urged the Thailand government to
include the ongoing democracy crisis in Burma in its proposed Regional
Conference on the afflicted boat people, and called on the governments
of Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand to cease
deporting refugees back to Burma as this puts them in great political
risk at the hands of the military junta. 

(Bangkok, 3 February 2009) Asia Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) welcomes the pledge of the Thai government to investigate the serious allegations of maltreatment of the Rohingya boat people by Thai security authorities.

We view this as a first step in the right direction by the Thai government in recognizing that human rights abuses and breach of humanitarian laws against the Rohingya shall cease and cannot be tolerated.

FORUM-ASIA calls on the Thai government to allow international and local humanitarian groups to have access to the afflicted Rohingya people in order to share the burden of the Thai government in providing them the necessary humanitarian assistance.

The Thai security authorities were alleged of detaining, beating and maltreating these Rohingya people who had fled from Burma on boats with very poor conditions. There were also allegations that the Rohingya boat people were towed back to the sea and set adrift without sufficient food and water.

The initiative by the Thai government to call for a regional conference on the issue of Rohingya people is timely and must be lauded. For far too long, the suffering and persecution of the Rohingya people who have not been recognized as citizens in their own country by the Burma military junta, has not received the adequate attention in the region that it deserved.

It is high time for the states in the region to address the issue of Rohingya people collectively now, as the outflow of large numbers of Rohingya refugees across borders and seas have impacted directly and indirectly many countries in the region, politically, economically and socially.

The issue can no longer be left to one or two countries which are affected directly as neighbors of Burma. The regional conference proposed by the Thai government should not only focus on how to come out with a regional strategy in sharing the burden of hosting and protecting these stateless Rohingya people, but also to address the long standing crisis of democracy in Burma which is the main reason for the outflow of refugees from Burma into other countries in the region.

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) can no longer turn a blind eye on Burma. Without addressing the democracy crisis in Burma, mass exodus of refugees from Burma, especially the Rohingya into the rest of the region will persist indefinitely.

FORUM-ASIA calls on the ASEAN to convene a special session in its coming summit in February on the issues of refugees and democracy in Burma. ASEAN would risk losing its credibility and relevance as a regional bloc if it in fails to deal with this issue effectively especially when Burma is a member state of the bloc.

While developing long term solutions may take time, FORUM-ASIA urges the countries at the receiving end of the Rohingya refugees, to treat them humanely, respect their human rights and allow access to the United Nations High Commission for Refugee to determine the refugee status of the Rohinya people and provide the much needed humanitarian assistance.

At the same time, FORUM-ASIA calls on the governments of Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia to immediately stop deporting the Rohinya refugees back to Burma as this would put them in great risk in the hands of the military junta.

FORUM-ASIA also urges all countries in the region to ratify the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugee and its 1967 Protocol.

Note:

For inquiry, please contact Wahyuningrum, East Asia Program Manager or Yap Swee Seng, Acting Executive Director of Asia Forum for Human Rights and Development, tel: +66 2 6532940, email: [email protected], [email protected].