The Rohingyas: ASEAN’s Image and Responsibility

Abstract

Citizens enjoy protections and different kinds of rights in a country as its nationals. The stateless people,
who are denied citizenships to any country, are deprived of such kinds of protections and rights, even the
fundamental human rights. Among all the minority groups of the world, the United Nations considers the
Rohingyas of the Arakan in Myanmar as one of the most persecuted one. They have been deprived of
citizenship of their country for long. They see a bleak future for them when the people of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are eagerly waiting for a greater regional identity. The Rohingyas
are deprived of fundamental human rights and are victims of state persecution policies. This fact
contradicts with the regional value creation endeavors of the ASEAN. This paper is based on a review of
the relevant literature on the issue. It looks into the origin of the so called ‘statelessness’ of the
Rohingyas, examines the international legal framework for the protection of the stateless people in
general, and the commitment of the individual ASEAN member countries to that legal framework as well
as the ASEAN’s role as a regional forum.