Rohingya Crisis is a Test for ASEAN Community: Exspert

Jakarta, (Antara) - Karina Larasati, a political expert from the ASEAN Studies Center, Gadjah Mada University, opined that the violence committed by the Myanmar government against the Rohingya ethnic minority is a test for the ASEAN Community 2025.

"The core of the ASEAN community is integration across all sectors and not just in business or political affairs," Larasati said when contacted by Antara in Jakarta on Monday.

Larasati explained that this integration aims to unite the understanding and views of the people of ASEAN member countries to work together to realize common prosperity and human rights.

However, what Myanmar has been witnessing is contrary to the process of ASEAN integration, she said.

"What stands out until now is only cooperation and integration in the economic, political, and security fields, while the social aspect has received less attention," Larasati remarked.

Moreover, the Myanmar government has not paid attention to the humanitarian crisis, which is increasingly hindering efforts to integrate the ASEAN community and implement its goals.

"Their insistence of staying isolated means the integration of humanity and human rights has not gone well, yet the integration of this field can touch and impact all aspects," she pointed out.

The UN Security Council has expressed deep concerns over Myanmar's security forces being responsible for human rights violations and atrocities in Rakhine State.

The UN Security Council has also formulated a resolution calling on Myanmar to open access for humanitarian workers into Rakhine and has urged the government to allow the entry of UN human rights investigators into the state to investigate the incidents of violence in the region.

The UN has also urged Myanmar to implement recommendations from a commission led by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, one of which calls on the Myanmar government to grant citizenship rights to the Rohingyas.

A total of 1.1 million Rohingya people have been subjected to discriminatory treatment from the government of Myanmar for decades and since 1982 have no citizenship status, thereby making them stateless people.(*)