BANGKOK: Southeast Asian leaders met yesterday for a second day of a summit in Bangkok, where they were expected to discuss pressing regional issues including the plight of Myanmar’s fleeing Rohingyas and the South China Sea dispute.
Leaders of the 10 countries on Saturday adopted a joint declaration against marine plastic pollution and stressed the importance of a regional trade pact first proposed by China.
Asean leaders face calls from rights groups to rethink support for plans to repatriate Rohingya Muslims who have fled member state Myanmar, where activists say returnees could face discrimination and persecution.
More than 700,000 Rohingya crossed into Bangladesh in 2017, according to UN agencies, after a crackdown by Myanmar’s military sparked by Rohingya insurgent attacks on security forces.
Malaysia’s foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah on Saturday called for perpetrators of massacres and atrocities against the Rohingya to be “brought to justice,” according to a tweet issued by his ministry.
Formed more than 50 years ago, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has historically struggled with challenges facing the region because it works only by consensus and is reluctant to become involved in any matter regarded as internal to a member state.
The countries made some progress on a Code of Conduct negotiating draft for the disputed South China Sea and likely will finish a first reading by the end of this year, said Busadee Santipitaks, Thailand’s foreign ministry spokeswoman.
The final reading is expected by the end of 2021, she added.
The South China Sea is one of the world’s busiest waterways, and a potential flashpoint in the region as several Asean members – the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia – as well as China and Taiwan have conflicting territorial claims.
Experts have cast doubts over what progress the 10-country group could make on the matter.
“We are hoping that the code of conduct being negotiated will be binding,” Kantathi Suphamongkhon, a former Thai foreign minister told Reuters. “If it is not then we will be back at the beginning again.” – Reuters
