ASEAN must not turn a blind eye to plight of Rohingya, groups say

By Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat
BANGKOK, June 19 (Reuters) - Human rights groups on
Wednesday called on Southeast Asian leaders to rethink their
approach to the Rohingya refugee crisis ahead of a regional
summit in Bangkok this week.
Myanmar regards Rohingya Muslims as illegal migrants from
the Indian subcontinent and has confined tens of thousands to
camps in its western Rakhine State since violence swept the area
in 2012.
More than 700,000 Rohingya crossed into Bangladesh in 2017,
according to U.N. agencies, after a crackdown by Myanmar's
military sparked by Rohingya insurgent attacks on the security
forces.
The Rohingya issue, especially their repatriation from
Bangladesh, is expected to be a major topic during four days of
meetings among leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Thailand from Thursday.
Human rights activists say the bloc should not rush to get
involved in the repatriation without addressing the root causes
of their displacement.
"ASEAN needs to stop turning a blind eye to Myanmar's
atrocities against the Rohingya, and cease lending legitimacy to
the repatriation process," Eva Sundari, an Indonesian lawmaker
and a board member of the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human
Rights, said in a statement.
U.N. investigators have said the 2017 Myanmar military
operation that drove more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims into
Bangladesh was executed with "genocidal intent" and included
mass killings, gang rapes and widespread arson.
Myanmar denies widespread wrongdoing and says the military
campaign across hundreds of villages in the north of Rakhine
State was in response to the attacks by Rohingya insurgents.
But rights groups say conditions in Rakhine State are not
conducive to the safe return of refugees.
"ASEAN seems intent on discussing the future of the Rohingya
without condemning – or even acknowledging – the Myanmar
military's ethnic cleansing campaign against them," said Brad
Adams, the Asia director of the Human Rights Watch.
"It's preposterous for ASEAN leaders to be discussing the
repatriation of a traumatized population into the hands of the
security forces who killed, raped, and robbed them."
Mostly Buddhist Myanmar is a member of ASEAN. The grouping
includes Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia, where the
plight of the Rohingya is of particular concern.
Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai rejected any
suggestion the grouping, which is under Thailand's chairmanship
this year, would gloss over Myanmar's action, but at the same
time, said ASEAN would not be apportioning blame.
"This is not about whitewashing anyone," he told Reuters.
"ASEAN is not here to point to who is right or wrong, our
concern is the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya in refugee
camps who should begin to take their first step to making a
return".
Repatriation would only take place on a voluntarily basis,
and with the consent of both Myanmar and Bangladesh, he said.
Thousands of Rohingya have fled Myanmar by sea in an exodus
that peaked in 2015, crossing the Andaman Sea to Thailand,
Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Last week, a boat carrying 65 Rohingya arrived at a southern
Thai island, raising concern that there could be a new wave of
people smuggling by sea after a 2015 regional crackdown on
trafficking.