ASEAN Community and the urgency to help resolve the Rohingya Muslim crisis

In conjunction with the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Langkawi, Malaysia, the country's Foreign Minister has stressed the commitment of Kuala Lumpur as the rotating chairman of the union on resolving the Myanmar crisis and restoring peace to the country.

Mohammad Hassan, Malaysian Foreign Minister, said that the Myanmar crisis was one of the main topics of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting and the participants of the meeting called for the immediate restoration of peace, stability and security in Myanmar.

Currently, Myanmar's military rulers face two fundamental challenges: the plight of the Rohingya Muslims and internal conflicts between opponents of the military regime and some separatist groups in areas close to the border with China, where a significant security and social challenge is also considered important for members of the ASEAN community.

However, according to its constitution, the union cannot interfere in the internal affairs of its members. This situation has not only exacerbated the Myanmar conflict, but in the view of some circles, it has also led to a prolonged conflict in Myanmar. Experts believe that one of the weak points of the union is its failure to resolve internal regional conflicts.

In this context, the Malaysian Foreign Minister, while emphasizing the ASEAN community's commitment to the principle of non-interference in the internal disputes of member states, believes that the consequences of the Myanmar crisis have transcended the country's borders and become a regional and international concern.

The reality is that Rohingya Muslims live in camps in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and even India, displaced by ongoing atrocities and killings by the military and Buddhist extremists. The atrocities have recently intensified with the burning of their homes in Rakhine state.

This situation, coupled with giving the ASEAN community a bad image of ineffectiveness, is seen as a continuation of the community's lack of responsibility regarding the Myanmar crisis and the fate of the Rohingya Muslims. In the view of the Malaysian Foreign Minister, this crisis is fueling other worrying outcomes such as human trafficking, online fraud, cybercrime and drug-related activities, and has created significant challenges for neighboring countries, including Malaysia.

In this regard, from Malaysia's perspective, the first step to helping resolve the Myanmar crisis is to restore peace and stability to the country in order to facilitate the process of delivering humanitarian aid to the affected areas.

What is clear to Shahir is that Malaysia's rotating chairmanship of the ASEAN Community is an appropriate opportunity for the community to focus on helping to resolve the Myanmar crisis and the plight of the country's Muslims.

Malaysia and Indonesia, as two Muslim countries and important members of the ASEAN community, have a better understanding of the situation of the Rohingya Muslims and can therefore help resolve the problems of these Muslims.

In any case, what most worries Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and is the reason for the continued oppression against them is the government's refusal to grant them citizenship rights.

The Myanmar government, which is largely in the hands of a military coup, does not recognize the Rohingya Muslims as citizens of the country and refuses to grant them civil rights, which has had a significant impact on the escalation of oppression against the community. What is even more regrettable is that the United Nations has so far been unable to resolve the conflict.