A new report by ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), Disenfranchisement and Desperation in Myanmar’s Rakhine State: Drivers of a Regional Crisis, details how political exclusion is exacerbating the already intense sense of desperation among Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, and driving a regional crisis that ASEAN leaders are ill prepared to confront.
A new report by ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), Disenfranchisement and Desperation in Myanmar’s Rakhine State: Drivers of a Regional Crisis, details how political exclusion is exacerbating the already intense sense of desperation among Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, and driving a regional crisis that ASEAN leaders are ill prepared to confront.
The report is based on findings from two research missions to Myanmar by parliamentarians from Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia as well as APHR researchers, in April and August/September 2015.
Amidst a backdrop of rising anti-Muslim sentiment, dozens of Muslim and Rohingya candidates have been deliberately excluded from Myanmar’s November elections and hundreds of thousands stripped of voting rights, leaving them with little hope of any positive future in Myanmar.
Since May 2015, when Rohingya asylum seekers were stranded in the Andaman Sea, making international headlines, what steps have ASEAN leaders taken to address the root causes of the exodus? Is the region better prepared to respond to another exodus?
APHR will be holding a press conference to present the findings of the report and answer questions, beginning at 10:30 A.M. on 16 October at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT) in Bangkok, Thailand.
Presenting the report will be:
- Hon. Charles Santiago, Malaysian Member of Parliament and Chairperson of APHR.
- Hon. U Shwe Maung, Myanmar Member of Parliament, a Rohingya, and board member of APHR.
Speaking in her personal capacity will be Rohingya humanitarian worker Htike Htike, from Myanmar.
For more information or to request an embargoed copy of the report, please contact Oren Samet at oren@aseanmp.org or +66992787334