Silent Shores: The ASEAN Human Rights Response to Refugee Protections

Established on August 8, 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (“ASEAN”) emerged as the first intergovernmental organization dedicated to promoting peace, security, and regional unity in Southeast Asia. In 2009, ASEAN affirmed its commitment to human rights by founding the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (“AICHR”), the first regional human rights system in Asia. This note offers a critical evaluation of the ASEAN human rights system and its response to refugee rights, recognition, and protections in Southeast Asia. It begins by assessing the historical foundation that has shaped ASEAN’s contemporary constraints. Building on this historical analysis, the focus shifts to an in-depth case study on the Rohingya refugee crisis, a revealing display of ASEAN’s deficiencies in addressing urgent, regional humanitarian concerns. The discussion then expands to a comparative analysis of ASEAN in relation to the United Nations, European, Inter-American, and African human rights systems. Through a close exploration of the diverse international and regional frameworks addressing refugee issues worldwide, this note culminates in offering structural and substantive recommendations to strengthen refugee rights and protections under the ASEAN system.