101 East
101 East

Obsolete Asean

Will the organisation take action or turn a blind eye on the Rohingya refugee issue?

Watch part two

Migrants from Myanmar have been arriving in Indonesia dehydrated and close to death.

They say that they originally landed in Thailand but the Thai armed forces towed them back out to sea in boats without engines and with little food or water.

Scores of people, the Rohingya migrants say, have died of thirst at sea.

With such serious allegations being made against a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), 101 East asks if the organisation will be prompted to take action.

ASEAN’s inability to stop member nations violating human rights has led to questions of its relevance. Is ASEAN is a toothless tiger?

Our guests are Surin Pitsuwan, the secretary general of ASEAN; Dr. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political analyst, and Bunn Negara, associate editor of The Star.

This episode of 101 East aired from Thursday, February 12, 2009 at the following times GMT:
Thursday:
1230, 1930; Friday: 0300, 0630; Saturday: 1400; Sunday: 0530; Monday: 0130; Tuesday: 1030; Wednesday: 0730, 1430.