Human rights high on Asean agenda

July 15, 2009
By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation

The Asean Ministerial Meeting in Phuket next week will be highlighting human rights and on its agenda is endorsement of a final report on the terms of reference for the Asean human rights body, besides close discussions on Burma.

Asean wants a credible and realistic mechanism to protect and promote human rights. However, the proposed Asean body has been widely criticised for being toothless in protecting rights in member countries.

A high-level panel will submit its final report to the ministers on Sunday, prior to a meeting of the regional grouping, according to Foreign Ministry's director of the Asean Affairs Department, Vitavas Srivihok.

The working group admits the body has emphasised rights promotion rather than rights protection. The Asean human rights mechanism cannot impose sanctions, and cannot inspect or report on the human rights situation in member countries.

"Taking into account the member countries, we have to be realistic otherwise the body will not work at all," Vitavas said. "The human rights body will be an evolving process, so it can be adjusted to fit the reality later."

The situation in Burma, with its negative record on human rights, would be discussed in the Asean meeting, he said, but declined to speculate on the outcome. Asean always expresses concern over Burma's political situation but rarely takes any action against the junta.

More than 1,200 delegates from 26 countries, plus an international organisation, will be in Phuket for the seven-day meeting, which includes 32 meetings.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will attend as a dialogue partner of the group and also take part in the Asean Regional Forum meeting.

The US will sign the instruments of accession and extension to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. Clinton will have a meeting on the sidelines with her counterparts from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam on Mekong basin development and other trans-border issues, Vitavas said.

North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chon will not attend the ARF, assigning an ambassador-at-large to represent Pyongyang. The Korean Peninsula issue has been in the spotlight following recent missile tests.

The resort island of Phuket will be off limits to all protests during the summit next week, when even the delegates and media representatives will be under restrictions.

People have a right to express opinions about Asean - but not in Phuket next week, the Foreign Ministry's Director of Asean Affairs Department Vitavas Srivihok said.

The island will be under the Internal Security Act and the military, which is in charge of security, will deploy some 10,000 troops there. It will set up checkpoints throughout the island to prevent disฌruption of the meetings.

Delegates and journalists will not be allowed to move freely in restrictฌed areas near the meeting venue.

All vehicles are required to register before entering the island and unregistered vehicles will not be allowed to cross Sarasin Bridge from the mainland, an official said.

The Internal Security Operational Command (Isoc) is in charge of vehicle control. Registration of vehicles is between 8am-6pm only, meaning vehicles arriving on the island after dark will be in trouble at security checkpoints.

ASEAN+3 to cushion financial meltdown

Mon, 02/23/2009
Rendi A. Witular
THE JAKARTA POST
PHUKET, THAILAND

Finance ministers of Southeast Asian nations, as well as Japan, China and South Korea, agreed Sunday on steps to prevent the region falling into financial meltdown.

In its joint statement after a meeting in the Thai resort island of Phuket, the ASEAN+3 countries agreed to prepare the precautionary measures by expanding their cooperation fund to US$120 billion from $84 billion worth of foreign exchange reserves under the Chiang Mai Initiative framework signed in 2000.

Japan, China and South Korea will supply 80 percent of the fund, and ASEAN members the remaining 20 percent. Details on the contribution of each countries are still undecided.

“The immediate effect of the agreement is that there will be a positive signal to the financial market in which we reassure them that we have sufficient backup and ammunition to face possible financial turmoil,” said Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

She added that ASEAN+3 had noted that while Asian economies were in a better position to face challenges, due to the structural reforms undertaken since the Asian financial crisis, it recognized the regional economy was now facing great challenges.

“The current severe economic downturn of the global economy, coupled with heightened risk aversion in financial markets, has adversely affected the region,” Mulyani said.

ASEAN+3 includes the 10 member states of ASEAN — the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos — and the three East Asian nations of Japan, China and South Korea.

The group has a total population of 2 billion people, a combined GDP of $9.09 billion, and foreign reserves of $3.6 trillion. Effectively, ASEAN+3 represents one-third of the world’s population, 16 percent of the world’s GDP, and holds more than half of the world’s reserves.

As the first concrete joint action in Asia to cope with the global economic downturn, the foreign exchange reserve pool is accessible to members in a swap mechanism to boost their foreign exchange reserves and to address short-term liquidity problems.

Members in dire need of the foreign exchange reserve fund, however, will be subject to an independent surveillance mechanism by other members.

A surveillance by member countries is preferred because most of the ASEAN+3 nations have suffered a traumatic experience from tapping financial support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is regularly tied with seemingly unfavorable and ineffective terms and condition.

After the surveillance mechanism takes full effect in its function, members can use more of the fund without having to worry about being put under IMF supervision.

Under existing rules, members withdrawing the fund by more than 20 percent of their real need are required to have IMF supervision.

ASEAN+3 is still working on expanding the 20 percent tolerance level to enable members to get more funds but still remain under the surveillance of other members.

The group will also speed up measures to better manage the region's bond market by accelerating the completion of the Asian Bond Markets Initiative (ABMI) road map.

Asian finance ministers to broaden regional liquidity fund

22 Feb 2009
IANS (India)

PHUKET: Finance ministers from Japan, China, South Korea and across South East Asia agreed on Sunday to broaden and increase a regional liquidity fund, in the wake of the global financial crisis.

The three, plus the ten members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) penned an agreement at a summit in Phuket, Thailand, to "multilateralise" the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI) fund, and to increase it to $120 billion.

Until now the CMI has taken the form of multiple bilateral agreements on currency swapping.

Meeting at Thailand's premier vacation island, 550 km south of Bangkok, the finance ministers also agreed to beef up the regional surveillance mechanism for the CMI, by setting up an independent regional watchdog in conjunction with the International Monetary Fund.

How long it will take to implement the multilateralisation is not clear.

Thai Finance Minister Korn Chatinkavanij, who co-chaired the Phuket meeting with his South Korean counterpart Jeung Hyun Yoon, pointed out after the meeting that the various countries have differing approval processes.

"But we expect the approval schedules to be discussed in the next meeting in Bali (in May)," he added.

Until the surveillance mechanism is in place and all countries have approved the multilateralisation, the current bilateral system will remain in place.

It was also agreed at the meeting that the ASEAN countries - Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia and Brunei - will put up 20 percent of the $120 billion fund, with the remaining 80 percent being contributed by China, Japan and South Korea.

The country-by-country breakdown has not yet been finalised, said China's Finance Minister Xuren Xie said.

"We have a good idea of the splits, both among the ASEAN countries and among the plus-3 countries," Korn noted.

When asked whether the absence of the new Japanese Finance Minister, after the recent resignation of his predecessor in an alleged drunkenness scandal, had had any effect on the talks, Korn said, "As far as we were concerned, the Japanese government was represented," he replied. "There was no negative impact whatsoever."

The ministers also made a strong plea for Western countries not to increase protectionist trade barriers in a bid to shield their domestic industries, and to stabilise their own economies and financial markets.

"Free and fair trade must be maintained," Korn said, not only within Asia but globally.

He also called for the development in Asia of "relevant policies for the development of domestic economies in order to counter the effects of reductions in exports."

The ministers, in their joint statement at the end of the conference, noted the importance of the Asian Bond Markets Initiative (ABMI) and hinted at relaxation of international currency regulations: "We recognise the important role of the private sector in the development of bond markets, particularly in cross-border bond transactions and settlement issues. We will explore ideas for new arrangements that would provide development assistance to the region while addressing unexpected liquidity constraints."

Finally, the ministers called for "an immediate and substantial capital increase" for the Asian Development Bank, calling for agreement on this before the next annual meeting of the ADB, in three months' time.

Asian finance ministers meet on economic crisis

Sunday, February 22, 2009

PHUKET, Thailand (AFP) — Finance ministers and top officials from Southeast Asia, China, Japan and South Korea met here on Sunday to discuss how the region can soften the blow from the global financial crisis.

Topping the agenda is a proposed multi-billion-dollar credit line to help Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries cope with the crisis, which members want to see expanded from 80 to 120 billion dollars.

"The meeting will send a very strong signal to the world that we are committed to alleviating the global economic slowdown," Thai Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said at the meeting on the southern resort isle of Phuket.

"Finance ministers in all countries need to work to find the base and most effective solutions and measures to tackle and underlie uncertainty."

Ministers and officials from ASEAN's Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are meeting with Chinese and South Korean finance ministers and a top Japanese official.

ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said the long-discussed regional fund would be used to help members "badly affected" as the global economic downturn hits Asia's key trading partners in the United States and Europe.

"It is one of the mechanisms -- it is not to replace or compete with the IMF (International Monetary Fund), but it will be an alternative for Asian countries," Surin said on Thai television.

"If it materialises, it will be one of ASEAN's most tangible achievements."

ASEAN members plus China, Japan and South Korea agreed after the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis to set up a bilateral currency swap scheme known as the Chiang Mai Initiative to prevent a repeat of the turmoil.

Asian nations now want to expand that agreement into a multilateral fund pool to help member nations as the current economic climate threatens millions of jobs as well as the recent robust growth in Asia's developing economies.

Asian nations had previously discussed an 80-billion-dollar emergency pool, but last year mooted expanding that figure to 120 billion dollars.

"Unfortunately our region is currently facing enormous challenges including global economic slowdown and ... financial turbulence," said South Korean Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-Hyun.

"The environment calls for stronger cooperation among the ASEAN countries ... I believe the Chiang Mai Initiative and its multilateralisation is a prime example of such regional collaboration efforts."

As the morning session came to a close, Surin told reporters that the meeting was "good and positive," and said all ministers agreed in principle to expand the fund.

He said ASEAN members would equally contribute to make up 20 percent of the pool, with the remaining 80 percent coming from the big three Asia economies.

"This idea will be submitted to the ASEAN summit in Hua Hin next week," Surin said.

Sunday's meeting comes ahead of ASEAN's annual summit starting on February 27, which current chair Thailand will host at the seaside resort town.

Phuket welcomes tourists, but not workers, especially those from Cambodia, Laos and Burma

Tue, May 1, 2007
PHUKET: Warm welcome for tourists doesn't extend to workers

The Nation (Bangkok, Thailand)

Province imposes curfew on foreign labourers, tracks their cell phones, bans them from driving cars or motorbikes

Phuket may have acquired a global reputation for warmth and hospitality, but since late last year authorities there have imposed controls on migrant workers that are so stringent they may violate fundamental human rights.

Phuket provincial authorities now prohibit migrant workers from leaving their residence after 8pm, unless they are under the supervision of their employer.

They also keep tabs on their mobile phones and prohibit them from getting behind the wheel or driving a motorbike.

Deputy governor Worapot Ratthasima said yesterday the province had issued 10 such administrative regulations since last December 19.

They are meant to control the 32,070 migrant workers from Burma, Laos and Cambodia who have registered to work on the island since last year.

A labour shortage in Phuket has brought a flood of workers from neighbouring countries.

Another regulation prohibits employers from hiring migrant labourers who lack work permits.

Mobile-phone use is regulated to adhere to the province's security policies.

Employers were required to submit a list of their migrant workers who have mobiles, the registration numbers of the phones and the names of those who own the phones and SIM cards to the provincial authorities, Worapot said.

Phuket will soon hold a meeting for business operators, to ensure that they accurately understand the new rules controlling migrant workers, he said.

Employers will be informed that they are required to provide clean and hygienic accommodation for migrant workers, and the ratio of toilets to workers must meet Public Health Ministry rules.

Worapot warned that those who violated the new regulations would be punished under the Immigration Act of 1979.

Penalties range from a Bt500 fine to three years in jail.

Worapot said Phuket pioneered these regulations, which followed complaints from Thai residents who wanted controls on migrant workers using mobile phones, riding motorcycles and going out at night.

Eight upper-South provinces with a high number of migrant workers have followed Phuket's lead, including Chumphon, Ranong, Surat Thani and Prachuap Khiri Khan.

Migrant workers in Ranong are prohibited from leaving their residence between 10pm and 6am unless their employer gives permission or they face a health emergency, said Governor Kanchanapa Khiman.

Seven regulations for migrant workers have been in effect in the province since February, she said.

In Ranong, migrant workers are prohibited from gathering in groups of five or more - unless they are working - in order to prevent illegal activities, the governor said.

They also face controls on mobile-phone use, she said. The mobile-phone controls are meant to control human trafficking, she added, explaining that investigations found many members of trafficking gangs used mobiles to communicate with each other, and numerous arrests were made from phone records.

The regulations were imposed on migrant workers following discussions on security issues between upper-South provinces and the commander of Army Region 4.

They are also a response to complaints from employers, Kanchanapa said. Some had complained they could not understand when they were listening to their migrant workers speaking Burmese over the phone, she explained.

Most employers are satisfied now that the regulations are in effect, she said.

Despite the controls, migrant workers can still use mobile phones but only under certain conditions, she said, adding that the regulation was not a violation of their human rights, but rather a move to protect national security.

National Human Rights Commissioner Surasee Kosolnavin disagrees.

It is a basic human right to allow people to speak with each other, he said.

The commission will investigate any complaint filed, because the rational behind such regulations must be examined, he said.

Using national security as a justification is unconvincing, because Thailand is not at war, he said. Migrant workers are human.

Wasan Sathorn, director of the Labour Ministry's Alien Workers Registration Office, said Phuket's regulations controlling migrant workers had nothing to do with national labour regulations.

Provincial governors have the authority to issue regulations to solve problems dealing with migrant workers, Wasan said.

Many provinces prohibit migrant workers from using mobile phones, in order to protect national security and prevent them from engaging in criminal activity, he said.