Fear and ignorance are at the heart of the violence that Myanmar is perpetrating against the Rohingya. For most in Myanmar, the Rohingya are not part of the country’s body politic and as such must be expelled before they wreak further havoc, whether in the form of Islamist terrorism or ethnic separatism. Plus, few alternatives exist to challenge this mainstream narrative in Myanmar society. As a result, what shocks outsiders about Myanmar’s campaign to drive out the Rohingya is not the atrocities per se but the lack of sympathy and solidarity for this persecuted minority from the rest of the country.
With the United Nations openly calling what is happening to the Rohingya a genocide in late August 2018, where does all this leave Myanmar’s neighboring countries and ASEAN as a whole? Barring an invasion of Myanmar’s sovereignty or a return to the satisfying but useless regime of sanctions, Southeast Asia is at an impasse when it comes to the Rohingya question. However, the issue gets more complicated since the rest of the region, too, is littered with unresolved and continuing violations of human rights, from oppression in Indonesian Papua to extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.
‘Never again’ is a phrase that gets brandished around when the topic of genocide arises, but the depressing truth is that genocide has taken place again and again in Southeast Asia, be it in Cambodia or East Timor. Indeed, a genocide is unfolding against the Rohingya in Myanmar. Yet, in response to recent UN judgment on Myanmar, the silence from Southeast Asia has been deafening. Apart from editorials from media around the region, of which we highlight those from The Jakarta Post and Bangkok’s The Nation for this week’s Spotlight, the UN report has elicited little official response from Southeast Asia.
Both editorials from The Jakarta Post and The Nation agree that the hope that many placed on Aung San Suu Kyi to alleviate Rohingya suffering was misplaced. As the Post editorial underscores, the Lady was a fighter for the human rights of her people, who evidently do not include the Rohingya. The editorial also points out that ASEAN’s cherished notion of ‘centrality’ risks becoming a laughing stock if it fails to intervene in light of the genocide. The Nation, for its part, is more pessimistic regarding the ability of neighboring countries to push the Myanmar government.
The fact that serious violations of human rights have a long history in Southeast Asia should not deter concerned people of good will in the region from engaging the people of Myanmar while providing succor to the Rohingya. What popular support existed behind past government violations of human rights was similarly based on widespread fear and ignorance. Once that mindset has changed and popular support dissipates, such governments around Southeast Asia will lose one main pillar of its legitimacy and will, in time, have to take responsibility for what they have done.
