Indonesia has again shown its willingness to step outside of the
diplomatic box, which normally constrains relations within the 10-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), this time coming out in support
of the often bullied Muslim Rohingyas in Burma.
Jakarta wants the Organization of
the Islamic Conference (OIC) to act and help stop the bloody oppression of
Rohingyas, and additionally supported the OIC taking action against Syria.
As a result, the Extraordinary
Summit of the OIC in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, has made the decision to suspend
Syria’s membership and to take the Rohingya’s plight before the United Nations
General Assembly because of the continued “recourse to violence by the Myanmar
authorities against the members of this minority and their refusal to recognize
their right to citizenship.”
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty
Natalegawa says a concrete strategy to stop the violence must be devised and
his decision to speak up was a victory for common sense and his own moral fiber
ASEAN prefers its members not to
comment or dabble in the affairs of its neighbors. However, Indonesia, the
world’s largest Muslim country, has shown it is prepared to act when and where
it deems necessary.
“As a multi-ethnic,
multi-religious and multicultural country, just as Myanmar is, Indonesia
understands and has experience overcoming horizontal conflicts that are not
easy to solve,” Marty told local media.
Already this year Jakarta has
attempted to broker an end to the border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia
at the temple ruins of Preah Vihear and strived to resolve a diplomatic impasse
between ASEAN members over disputes with China around the dispute Spratly and
Paracel Islands.
In Burma, at least 80 people have
died since sectarian unrest erupted in the Western state of Rakhine in June
following the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman. Ten Muslims were
subsequently lynched.
As the violence flared, New
York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Burma’s security forces of opening
fire on Rohingyas, committing rape, and standing by as mobs attacked each
other.
With the exception of Indonesia,
Malaysia, and Brunei, the involvement of the OIC in Burma will no doubt raise
concerns among the other members of ASEAN, if only because of an almost
maniacal loathing of outsiders with opinions, and it highlights their inability
to act when needed.
Burmese President Thein Sein has
given his blessing to OIC involvement but the reality is he had little choice.
He has made it known he’d rather have had the UN classify the Rohingya as
refugees, packed-up and sent to a third country despite centuries of Muslim
history in Burma.
This would amount to winning
global approval for committing cultural genocide and ethnic cleansing on an
enormous scale. There are an estimated 800,000 Rohingyas living in Burma and
for good reason, the United Nations and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
have made it clear this is not an option.
Hence, alternative OIC involvement
could prove ideal, aided by a donation of US$50 million from Saudi Arabia to be
spent on aiding the miserably impoverished Rohingyas. It would also provide a
valuable precedent for the rest of ASEAN which does well on the economic and
trade front but constantly struggles with issues that encompass human rights.
Luke Hunt
Business & Investment Opportunities
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