Human Rights Watch_ASEAN: Make Human Rights a Regional Concern
Summit Meeting Should Address Burma, Refugees, and Migrants
FEBRUARY 25, 2009
RELATED MATERIALS:
Letter to ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan
The tragedy surrounding the Rohingyas’ perilous exodus reveals glaring failures of ASEAN in dealing with Burma. ASEAN’s continuing failure to hold the Burmese military government accountable for abuses and ASEAN’s unwillingness to provide refuge for those fleeing oppression in Burma are two sides of the same coin.
Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch
(New York) – Southeast Asian leaders at the 14th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit meeting should address the dire human rights situation in Burma, improve treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, and strengthen protection for migrants, Human Rights Watch said in a letter today to the ASEAN secretary-general, Surin Pitsuwan. Human Rights Watch urged that these issues be a priority for the new ASEAN human rights body, which is to be discussed at the meeting taking place from February 27 to March 1 in Hua Hin, Thailand.
Human Rights Watch said that the recent forced return at sea of boats containing ethnic Rohingya refugees from Burma, leading to hundreds of deaths, was proof of the need for regional solutions to Southeast Asia’s human rights problems. The global economic downturn and the resulting impact on migrants’ rights also highlights how gaps in current labor and policy frameworks across the region also have left millions of workers at high risk of mistreatment, Human Rights Watch said. continue
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/02/25/asean-make-human-rights-regional-concern
