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HUA HIN, 26 October 2009 (IRIN) – After only a few days Southeast Asia’s inter-governmental human rights body is

Kraisak Choonhavan speaking at the AIPMC press conference, Hua Hin (Photo: Simon Roughneen)

already being criticized over its terms of reference as well as its ability to have any impact on human rights in Myanmar.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) launched its Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) on 23 October with the signing of the Cha-am Hua Hin Declaration at the 15th ASEAN summit held in Hua Hin, Thailand, over the weekend.

Thailand’s Prime Minister and ASEAN chairman Abhisit Vejjajiva said it “showed the commitment of ASEAN member-states to realize the historic quest of the people of Southeast Asia for freedom”.

But critics say its mandate is limited and that its undertaking to “promote human rights within the regional context, bearing in mind national and regional particularities and mutual respect for different historical, cultural and religious backgrounds” does not go far enough, given that Myanmar continues to be cited by human rights watchdogs as one of the world’s worst violators.

Kraisak Choonhavan, chairman of the ASEAN Inter-parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, said the country’s military government had yet to demonstrate a willingness to adhere to principles of democratic governance under the ASEAN charter.

And ASEAN’s long-held assertion that Myanmar’s political and human rights issues were internal affairs was no longer applicable, particularly since such problems had affected other countries in the region, he said.

Engaging with the military

According to Charm Tong of the Shan Women’s Action Network in Myanmar, the military has stepped up operations against ethnic groups in the east ahead of next year’s election, resulting in the displacement of thousands to neighbouring Thailand and China.

Western sanctions are in place, although the US has reversed its previous policy by saying it would talk to the junta.

ASEAN has typically stressed non-interference in the internal affairs of its member states, with a notable exception in August, when a statement issued by the Thai PM in his role as ASEAN chairman expressed “deep disappointment” with the sentencing of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to an additional 18 months house arrest.

Additional challenges

Other critics cite the composition of the AICHR. According to Debbie Stothard, speaking on behalf of the ASEAN People’s Forum, a network of NGOs, eight of the 10 commissioners are government appointees, with only Indonesia and Thailand allowing human rights experts and lawyers to select their commissioners.

Of the 10 ASEAN member states, only Indonesia is regarded by US-based watchdog Freedom House as a fully-fledged democracy, with other states ranging from flawed partial democracies to states with little freedom of speech or assembly.

In his closing remarks at the summit, ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan attributed the divergent attitudes towards NGOs among ASEAN member-states to “different rules and regulations, which led to a differing view on how to appoint the civil society representatives”.

Last year, ASEAN launched a charter that pledges to reform the bloc into a European Union-style entity by 2015.The human rights body was created as part of this initiative.

However, according to Bridget Welsh, a professor of Southeast Asian studies at Singapore Management University, the birth pangs of the AICHR do not bode well for ASEAN development in general.

“The handling of the ASEAN human rights body seriously undermines the credibility of the organization and simultaneously raises questions about the transformation of the regional architecture of the organization,” she told IRIN.

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PENANG, 14 October 2009 (IRIN) – In the tourist city of Penang in northern Malaysia, the Buddhist temple has become the locus of social and economic support for migrants from Myanmar.

“l was a contractor at home, but left Burma [Myanmar] 19 years ago, arriving in Malaysia after crossing from Thailand,” said Aung Tin, a foreman on the construction site of a new pagoda.

Burmese workers on the job at the new pagoda under construction at the Burmese Buddhist temple in Penang (Photo: Simon Roughneen)

Penang is one of Malaysia’s main economic and industrial centres, and the Burmese Buddhist temple provides social and religious support for the Burmese community.

At the construction site, all 14 staff supervised by Aung Tin – who would only talk to IRIN using a pseudonym – are Burmese migrants.

“I left as soon as I could after the 1990 elections,” said Aung Tin. “The economic situation in the country was bad for years before then, and I had not been able to generate enough work. When I saw that the army was going to keep things the same, it became clear that I could not make a living,”

In 1990, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won the last election held in Myanmar, but the military rulers overturned the result, and have run the country since.

Aung Tin left behind a wife and two sons, whom he has not seen since. His boys are now grown up, and like their father, want to leave their home country.

When Cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar in 2008, his family’s home was one of more than three million destroyed. “All my money was sent home to help repair my house,” he said.

Employment magnet

Myanmar is one of the most impoverished countries in the region, and ranks 138 out of 182 countries surveyed in the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) 2009 Human Development Report.

Limited employment prospects encourage many to look for opportunities in neighbouring countries. Thailand is the main destination for Burmese workers, but Malaysia is also favoured, along with Bangladesh and India, according to a 2008 UN report on migration in East and Southeast Asia.

Accurate figures of how many Burmese are leaving Myanmar are difficult to obtain because much of the movement is irregular, say civil society groups.

Malaysia is heavily dependent on foreign labour for its construction and plantation industries, and is a magnet for migrant workers in the region. According to government statistics, there were 92,020 registered Burmese workers in 2006, comprising 5 percent of the total registered workers.

Rights groups, however, say there are also thousands of unregistered Burmese in the country; the Kuala Lumpur-based Burma Workers’ Rights Protection Committee estimates there are about 500,000 registered and unregistered migrants from Myanmar in Malaysia.

And as of May 2009, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said it had registered 50,000 people of concern from Myanmar, including refugees and asylum-seekers.

Under threat

Aung Tin’s story is similar to those of many migrant workers in Malaysia. He had a work permit originally but has veered back and forth between legal and illegal status since.

Many Burmese find work at construction sites, factories and food outlets, according to Malaysian rights groups. If they were recruited or brought in to work at factories, they are often provided with accommodation. But while some employers provide proper living facilities, others force their workers to live in overcrowded and cramped conditions.

Rights groups say many Burmese migrants as well as refugees do not carry legal documents, and face arrest, detention and deportation by the Malaysian authorities.

Deportees, both migrant workers and refugees, are then vulnerable to human traffickers at the Malaysia-Thailand border, who demand huge sums of money to help them get back into Malaysia, they say.

“Another problem that the Burmese face is extortion from the police,” said Temme Lee, refugee coordinator for Malaysian rights group Suaram.

“Due to their lack of proper documentation, Burmese are often stopped by police. The police threaten to arrest them and demand money from them,” she told IRIN.

Despite his perilous and often haphazard situation, Aung Tin is one of the better-off migrants. He earns 50 Malaysian ringgit (US$14.80) per day as foreman at the construction project.

“The monks look after us here, and try to give us work,” he said.

Copyright © IRIN 2009

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DILI, 16 July 2009 (IRIN) – A decade after voting to end Indonesia’s 24-year occupation, Timor-Leste is struggling with one of its thorniest socio-economic problems: half the men aged between 20 and 24 in Dili, the country’s largest city, are unemployed.

Some, young and old, can make a living out of fishing. (Photo: Simon Roughneen)

Various government and non-government initiatives are in place to address this problem, but in the absence of foreign investment or a dynamic local private sector, much more is needed, say analysts.

An estimated 20 percent of the country’s 1.1 million inhabitants are unemployed.

About 90 percent of the workforce is employed in agriculture, though this is largely seasonal, subsistence work, leaving an estimated 40 percent of this cohort effectively underemployed.

According to the UN Development Programme, 50 percent of the population lives below the national poverty line of US$0.88 per day, despite oil-based GDP per capita of $4,500 for 2008.

The country ranks 158th out of 179 countries in the UNDP Human Development Index, making it the least developed country in Asia.

“Job creation is vital to economic and political stability. With a median age of 21.8 years, creating jobs for the youth is integral to any employment programme in this country,” Fernando Encarnacao, a youth employment and community empowerment specialist for the International Labour Organization, told IRIN.

Youth violence

“With so many young people idle, it is easy to see how they became involved in 2006,” he said, referring to the social instability that year.

More than 150,000 people were displaced during violence between rival groups within the army and police and among the wider population.

According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) , the crisis was caused by political rivalries dating back to the independence struggle up to 1999, divisions between “easterners” and “westerners”, as well as chronic poverty and a large and disempowered youth population.

James Scambary, author of an April 2009 report, Groups, gangs and armed violence in Timor-Leste, added that political manipulation of dozens of youth gangs contributed to the unrest.

Moreover, these groups, largely comprised of “young kids with nothing else to do”, continue to engage in crime and violence, he said.

But addressing such a problem is not easy. An estimated 15,000 young people enter the job market each year, and with 35 percent of the population younger than 15, the issue will become more pressing in the future, not least if the discrepancy between Timor-Leste’s GDP per capita and real living standards is not addressed.

A way forward

One approach adopted by the government is to promote entrepreneurship and self-employment, in tandem with better skills training and business-oriented thinking for school leavers.

“Generating self-employment is vital. People see business opportunities, but cannot access capital. We provide credit to help,” said Angelo Soares of Tuba Rai Metin (Feet Firmly on the Ground), an NGO specialising in microfinance programmes.

However, according to MP Fernanda Borges, who leads the opposition National Unity Party: “Foreign investors are unlikely to come to this country while our skills base remains low.”

Timor ranks 170 out 181 on the World Bank’s Doing Business Index, making it a difficult location for start-ups and new enterprises. It also means more reforms are needed to attract foreign investment, though some non-oil sectors are attracting external interest.

“There are parties looking to invest in construction and tourism,” one World Bank official said.

For now, locally generated employment, possibly involving public works programmes, would help to improve the infrastructure and road system, while providing jobs for idle youth.

President Jose Ramos-Horta told IRIN the government would employ “thousands of people” to build 4,000km of new roads.

But according to Brenda Barrett of the Education Development Center in Timor-Leste, “Youth in Timor-Leste need to learn by doing.”

Barrett runs the USAID-funded Preparing Ourselves for Work programme, working alongside local organisations to provide training on and off the job for 16-30 year-olds.

“We aim to generate professionalism, a work ethic, and much-needed self-confidence,” she said.

This accords with Scambary’s view that undermining gang culture “needs more than jobs; it means a sense of entitlement, and community responsibility and acceptance”.

But with so many young Timorese out of work, large-scale projects may prove vital in the short term as government agencies and NGOs cannot reach everyone.

“I haven’t received any skills training, or been informed about any employment schemes,” said Edio da Silva, from Becora in Dili. He is 19 and has been out of school and out of work since he was 14.

“I just stay home.  Many of my friends do the same,” he said.