Karen_A._Mingst,_Ivan_M._Arregu_n-Toft]_Essentia

Specific Human Rights Issues 391

For CritiCal analy sis

1. Why would Muslim countries like Malaysia
   and Indonesia be unwilling to accept more
   refugees?


2. What could a regional or ga ni za tion like
   ASEAN do to address the refugee crisis?


3. What pressures could be applied on the
   Myanmar regime to accept the Rohingyas as
   citizens with full civil and po liti cal rights?

but not resettlement. Rumors abound that Aus-
tralia actually paid off the smugglers to leave
Australian territorial waters, in direct violation
of international law. Neither India nor China
has stepped up. China’s position is that this
is an internal Myanmar prob lem yet it has not
used its po liti cal influence to try to alter the
conditions within Myanmar. The prob lem also
reflects the real ity that many of these people
are not refugees in the legal sense of the
term: because of their race, religion, or nation-
ality, they fear being persecuted if they return
to their place of origin. Many would be unable
to prove they would be persecuted if they
returned. Many have fled because of poverty
or unemployment, and they do not have a legal
right to asylum. They are subject to the laws and
regulations of the receiving country— hence,
the strategy of the Southeast Asian countries is
not to let them land on their shores.
In 2015, the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (or ASEAN) began to coordinate
action. ASEAN members have agreed to
launch a fund to share the costs of host gov-

ernments for victims of human trafficking.

And Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philip-

pines have agreed to take in 7,000 indi-

viduals each.

International humanitarian agencies like

the World Food Programme, UNICEF,

UNESCO, the International Or ga ni za tion

for Migration, International Committee of

the Red Cross, and Doctors without Bor-

ders thus have the responsibility to support

orderly and humane migration.

Rohingya mi grants pass food provisions dropped by the Thai military to those adrift in the Andaman

Sea in May 2015. The Rohingya are attempting to find refuge in other Southeast Asian countries.