Tensions in western Rakhine State, Myanmar have escalated to a potential tipping point. This past weekend, 30 police posts and an army base were attacked by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), resulting in the death of more than 100 people, mostly militants. This comes on the heels of a spate of militant-initiated killings and attacks that began in October 2016, against a backdrop pf decades of state and military suppression of separatism and communal violence.
In varying but little noticed reports a week ago, it was announced that Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states in India will soon begin importing sand from Malaysia and Cambodia. The reports cited the difficulty that these states have in ensuring enough sand for local construction and development projects. With limits on local mining permits and conservation policies being enforced to protect Indian water catchment areas, the price of local sand has soared to SGD$5.30 per 50kg bag. A global tender for sand resulted in Malaysian and Cambodian companies offering sand at SGD$3.17 per 50kg bag. This announcement is a curious one as Malaysia has had an export ban on sand for more than 10 years and Cambodia, as have several other Southeast Asian countries, has been embroiled in numerous sand smuggling allegations and denials. That the articles can celebrate the protection of Indian river ecosystems is ironic given the potential damage that will result in the source countries.
2017/50, 22 August 2017
The Marawi City siege is the latest symptom of the profound political alienation of Muslim Mindanao.
The 50th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) last week managed to issue a joint communiqué that contains stronger language on the South China Sea than the Chairman’s Statement issued at the 30th ASEAN Summit last April. By emphasizing, for example, “the importance of non-militarization and self-restraint in the conduct of all activities, including land reclamation” in the South China Sea, the communiqué is virtually on par with the one issued last year at the 49th AMM.
There was no shortage of good news for Asean coming out of the 50th Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting that took place over the weekend in Manila, the Philippines, especially with regards to its relations with China. Not only did the Joint Communique include strong and firm language on land reclamation and militarisation activities in the South China Sea, but Asean and China also formally endorsed the framework for the Code of Conduct (COC) of the South China Sea. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi even took the opportunity to propose three steps to move the COC consultations forward. The most encouraging point among the three steps is Foreign Minister Wang’s pronouncement that the “leaders of China and ASEAN member states will officially announce the start of the next step to negotiate on the text of the COC at the China-ASEAN Leaders’ Summit in November” this year.
2017/47, 8 August 2017
2017/46, 7 August 2017
“Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Rohingya Seeking Refuge in Bangladesh” by Su-Ann Oh
The maelstrom of militant attacks, civilian reprisals and government security crackdowns in western Rakhine, Myanmar has brought about another surge of Rohingya arrivals, or Bengalis as the local population calls them, in Bangladesh. It has been reported that almost 90 000 have crossed into Bangladesh, with between 18 000 and 28 000 having been permitted entry; the rest were turned away. Some have returned to Bangladesh despite being refused entry, and/or are squatting in an area beyond the boundary guarded by Bangladesh’s Border Guard.