Don't ignore the Rohingya

Even though the joint communique released after their previous meeting in June said they are committed to assisting Myanmar ensure safety in Rakhine state for the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, Asean's leaders' "commitment" has had little effect on the ground.

As leaders gather this weekend in Bangkok for the Asean Summit and on Monday for the East Asia Summit, a draft of the East Asia Summit statement leaked to Kyodo News agency indicates that the Rohingya issue will not be on the agenda, largely due to pressure exerted by Myanmar.

Failing to properly address the issue in the Asean leaders' statement will mean the regional bloc has again turned a blind eye to the plight of the Rohingya people.

As the Asean chair, Thailand should not have let this happen. Instead, the Thai government should have pushed for discussion of the crisis in Rakhine despite it being outside of the bloc's comfort zone. At previous summits, Asean limited its focus to "humanitarian and development assistance" and "advice for the repatriation" of Rohingya refugees.

As long as Asean leaders do not talk about the elephant in the room -- the lack of security in Rakhine coupled with Myanmar policies and laws that discriminate against the Rohingya Muslims -- there will never be a durable solution to this crisis.

Sticking to its non-interference principle, Asean has treated the Rakhine crisis as Myanmar's internal affair and thus failed to address its root cause.

Even though its involvement has been limited, Asean is one of the few actors that is able to engage Myanmar on the issue.

This year, the Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management conducted a needs assessment in the restive state and provided "support" for Myanmar's efforts to repatriate the nearly one million Rohingya refugees now living in crowded camps in Bangladesh.

Those refugees include about 740,000 who fled a military crackdown in Rakhine in August 2017 that the UN calls ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar's repatriation efforts have been a failure. It recently claimed that about 400 Rohingya Muslims have returned home, but the number is too small to suggest the rest will follow suit anytime soon.

This failure stems partly from the fact that the refugees were not consulted beforehand about their "voluntary return".

The Myanmar government has also failed to ensure that conditions in Rakhine are safe and conducive for them to go back. The estimated 600,000 remaining Rohingya in the restive state still endure ethnic segregation and restrictions on freedom of movement.

Worse still, the Myanmar government continues to deny them citizenship, making it less likely they will be willing to return to a situation in which they are denied basic state services and freedoms.

Asean needs to stop paying lip service and start discussing these real problems. The leaders must seek common ground that provides a fruitful solution, such as assistance in helping Myanmar with a citizenship verification process.

Leaving the Rakhine crisis for Myanmar to manage alone could see the situation spin out of control and spill over into other Southeast Asian nations' territories.The summits over the next few days offer an opportunity for the Asean leaders to evaluate whether they have done enough to address the Rakhine crisis. Skipping this inconvenient issue can only make Asean a less relevant and less credible regional body.

Editorial