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ASEAN, the Bali Process and Conceptualisation of Refugees in South East Asia

ASEAN, the Bali Process and Conceptualisation of Refugees in South East Asia. Susan Kneebone, Faculty of Law, Monash University. Plan. The situation of Refugee Protection in Southeast Asia Three Actors and their Norms: Bali Process ASEAN and ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD)

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ASEAN, the Bali Process and Conceptualisation of Refugees in South East Asia

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  1. ASEAN, the Bali Process and Conceptualisation of Refugees in South East Asia Susan Kneebone, Faculty of Law, Monash University

  2. Plan • The situation of Refugee Protection in Southeast Asia • Three Actors and their Norms: • Bali Process • ASEAN and ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD) • Asian African Legal Consultative Organisation (AACLO) and the ‘Bangkok Principles on the Status and Treatment of Refugees’ 2001 • Conclusions

  3. References • See ‘The Bali Process and Global Refugee Policy in the Asia-Pacific Region’ Special Edition of the Journal of Refugee Studies on Global Refugee Policy, 2014; • ‘ASEAN and the Conceptualisation of Refugee protection’ in Abass A. and Ippolito, F., et al eds., RegionalApproaches to the Protection of AsylumSeekers: An International Legal Perspective (Ashgate 2014) Chapter 13, pp295-324

  4. The region • UNHCR: ‘geopolitics and national security issues prevail over humanitarian considerations’ (UNHCR 2012). • The protection environment is fragile; very few countries in the region have acceded to the 1951 Refugee Convention. (UNHCR 2011) • Protracted and ‘mass-influx’ situations, extra-regional \ urban refugees, high levels of statelessness • ‘the last frontier’ of regional cooperation’

  5. Some legacies – the ‘rejection theory’ and ‘Asian exceptionalism’ • Comprehensive Plan of Action for Indo-Chinese refugees 1989 (CPA) • ASEAN countries provided ‘first’ \ temporary asylum • In exchange for third country resettlement • A global North solution for the global South? • Vienna World Conference on Human Rights • Rights of refugees and displaced persons, collectively known as ‘vulnerable’ persons • Linked to inequalities in development between the global North and the global South The CPA The 1993 Bangkok Declaration

  6. The Actors – 1 • Conference on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime [2002] • http://www.baliprocess.net/ • Regional Consultative Processes (RCPs) on irregular migration dating from 1996 • 1999 Bangkok Declaration on Irregular Migration

  7. Norms – 1 • A securitiseddiscourse on ‘irregular migration’ \ secondarymovements • State led, excludes civil society representation • ReflectsAustralia’s national policy on asylumseekers: eg the Malaysia-Swap agreement 2011 • Limited actors and a narrowdiscoursewhichreflects a hierarchical agenda-setting process or ‘steering mode’ • Limited application of International Refugee Protection (IRP) norms … asylum and burden-sharing • But note recent initiatives of Indonesia and UNHCR outside the Process

  8. 2 - Creation of an ASEAN Community: One Vision, One Identity … • Article 35 of the ASEAN Charter : • ‘ASEAN shallpromoteitscommon ASEAN identity and a sense of belongingamongits peoples in order to achieveitsshareddestiny, goals and values’ • ASEAN Political-Security Community (‘APSC’) • ASEAN EconomicCommunity (‘AEC’) • ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (‘ASCC’).

  9. 2- Norms • Creation of ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (‘AICHR’) – a work in progress • Refugee issues situated within the APSC • Which covers ‘traditional’ and ‘non-traditional’ security or ‘transboundary challenges’ • The meaning of ‘traditional’ – direct threats • The meaning of ‘non-traditional’ – indirect threats eg the environment, development gaps • Refugees associated with ‘post-conflictpeace building’ • But parallel discourse focussed on development and ‘human security’

  10. The ASEAN HumanRightsDeclaration (AHRD) and Refugees • Article 2: • 2. Everypersonisentitled to the rights and freedoms set forthherein, without distinction of anykind, such as race, gender, age, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, economicstatus, birth, disability or otherstatus. • Article 35: the right to development • Article 22: the right ‘to freedom of thought, conscience and religion’. • Article 15: right ‘to freedom of movement ..’ • Article 16: the right to seek and receive asylum in another State in accordance with the laws of such State and applicable international agreements

  11. 3 - Asian African Legal Consultative Organisation (AALCO) • Outcome of the Asian African or ‘1955 Bandung Conference’ held in Indonesia • Bangkok Principles 1966 \ reaffirmed 2001 • Contain the ‘expanded’ definition of the OAU Convention 1974 • And strong statements re burden sharing • Principles of refugee protection given a regional normative basis? • UNHCR’s ‘humanitarian’ role within this mechanism …

  12. Some conclusions • SEA \ ASEAN: • Refugees a ‘Northern’ and securitised concept • State-led processes • UNHCR’s mediating role between states and civil society • Seen as promoting ‘humanitarian’ outcomes rather than human rights

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