Non-Citizen Rights in ASEAN

Abstract

As an ancien régime, East Asia has been considered a region that bucks the trend of the so-called ‘humanization of international law’, where the primacy of the interests of individual has become the norm. As such, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the only institutionalized transnational body in the region, not only embodies a political statement against the Western backed liberal order, but also harkens back to the decolonization era, summoning Bandung’s post-colonial ideals where the state is the only and, thus, ultimate expression in international affairs through the espousal of equality and non-interference paramountcy. This article argues that this post-colonial arrangement has failed to serve its supposed ultimate beneficiary, that is, subaltern groups such as the persecuted Rohingya. The Rohingya have been denied their human rights even by their post-colonial fellows. To bring sobriety into the fold, the article uses the ingenuity of the Malaysian Human Rights Commission Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Malaysia (SUHAKAM), as a node to cross-cultural legitimation, as a call for an ‘indigenized pragmatism’ embracing universal human rights that transcend the boundaries of nationalism-based political discourse rather than refugee rights due to their evocation of foreignness.

No humanitarian intervention in Asian genocides: how possible and legitimate?

“…80 ASEAN's refraining from undertaking any forcible action is also due to the status of the Rohingya, who are not recognized as legal citizens of Myanmar. Not using the term 'Rohingya' in its official documents and statements, 81 ASEAN has not denounced Myanmar's discrimination of the minority; it has instead showed its support for their repatriation despite the ongoing mass atrocity crimes. 82 The stance of regional organizations is particularly important for China, which is generally supportive of regional resolution of regional problems.…”