ASEAN’s Timor Response Shows Way on Rakhine

Posted by AsiaViews | Sep 12, 2017 | 0 |

By Surin Pitsuwan*

Bangkok Post

Sep 6, 2017

As a 10-member inter-governmental body, ASEAN prides itself on having survived many regional crises and emergency situations, becoming “a community of sharing and caring societies”.

However, the Rakhine communal crisis is a new challenge in which ASEAN’s credibility is being put to test.

ASEAN has taken a role in containing a number of regional conflicts. In the early and late 1990s the regional group helped tackle conflicts in Cambodia and engaged in international efforts to restore law and order in East Timor. In early and late 2000s, ASEAN helped contain escalating conflicts in Aceh, Indonesia, and border tensions between Cambodia and Thailand.

Even though those collective efforts were conducted with quiet diplomacy and collective political will, they helped contain the conflicts.

When Myanmar was hit by cyclone Nargis in 2008, ASEAN proved it could take a regional leadership role in arranging a humanitarian response to the devastation caused by the disaster.

From 2008 to 2010, during which I spearheaded ASEAN’s humanitarian efforts, the regional grouping, with the support of the United Nations, the World Bank and the international community, was able to organize international humanitarian assistance to victims of the cyclone at a time when Myanmar was still under sanctions by many countries.

The current prevailing and deteriorating situation in Rakhine, which the UN secretary-general describes as a possible “human catastrophe”, is another test for ASEAN’s “solidarity, efficacy and credibility.”

ASEAN can act to address the Rakhine crisis. In that event, here is my suggestion: Adopt the modality of its engagement in the East Timorese 1999 crisis.

During that time, Thailand was the ASEAN chair. Some ASEAN member countries were not willing to engage in an international effort to bring about peace and security to East Timor during which anti-independence militants’ attacks on civilians turned into violence throughout the country.

But Thailand’s prime minister at the time, Chuan Leekpai, as ASEAN chair, suggested these words which helped break the deadlock: “Those ASEAN member states which are prepared and willing can join the International Force for East Timor.”

He was referring to a multinational task force organized by Australia to address the humanitarian and security crisis in the country from 1999-2000 prior to the arrival of the United Nations peacekeeping force.

After Chuan’s remark, ASEAN engagement in East Timor became “a coalition of the willing”, helping the regional grouping avoid having to gain the consensus required for its decision-making principles.

ASEAN must now act again to address the Rakhine crisis. It will have to act fast to save lives and prevent the carnage from deteriorating and escalating into regional tensions.

The world is watching. ASEAN’s credibility and profile are hanging in the balance.

*Former secretary-general of ASEAN and former foreign minister of Thailand

(https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1319167/aseans-timor-response-shows-way )

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Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

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ASEAN’s Timor Response Shows Way on Rakhine