Open Letter: Leaders must address COVID-19 human rights concerns at 36th ASEAN Summit

H.E. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc, 
Prime Minister of Viet Nam
16 Le Hong Phong Street, 
Ba Dinh District,
Ha Noi, Viet Nam

25 June 2020

Your Excellency, 

Re: Leaders must address COVID-19 human rights concerns at 36th ASEAN Summit 

As a regional network of parliamentarians from Southeast Asia committed to the promotion and protection of human rights, we write to you on the occasion of this week’s 36th ASEAN Summit, to urge you to ensure that ASEAN’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath places human rights at its centre. 

While our region should be commended for being reasonably successful in containing the spread of the virus, the pandemic exposed major weaknesses and inequalities in our governance systems. The region failed to protect those in the most vulnerable situations, in particular its migrant workers and refugees. It has also seen a surge in restrictions on freedom of expression and in hateful rhetoric against marginalised groups.  

However, the gathering of the region’s leaders under your chairmanship this week presents an opportunity to demonstrate that ASEAN can learn and grow from these challenging times, by ensuring that from this point on, our region’s policies are inclusive of all and promote a more just, sustainable and equal society. 

This should begin by ensuring that the region collectively moves towards greater environmental sustainability and social justice. Post-COVID 19 economic recovery plans are a unique occasion for our economies to move away from a reliance on fossil fuels and coal, and towards renewable energy projects that reduce contributions to climate change. 

Post-COVID19 economic stimulus investments should also reach small and medium-sized enterprises, and be used to prioritise the creation of sustainable and decent employment. We urge you as leaders to see that these are necessary steps to not only avoid future shocks and crises, but also to be better prepared to absorb their impact and guarantee the long-term economic prosperity of the region.

Greater regional cooperation and assistance will also be necessary to ensure that everyone in ASEAN has access to basic services and social protection measures, including those working in the informal sector and migrant workers. Having strong social protections programs and ensuring basic services to all will help mitigate the impact of the economic crisis and help our region recover faster. 

The pandemic has deepened already existing inequalities, with women and girls being disproportionately affected. Economically they are more at risk of falling into poverty and facing food insecurity, and have also faced restricted access to sexual and reproductive health services, as well as a rise in sexual and gender-based violence. For ASEAN’s post-COVID-19 economic and social policies to be effective they must take into consideration this differentiated impact, be gender responsive and ensure women’s equal participation in all policies and decision making. 

Regional peace will also be crucial to guaranteeing a just and sustainable recovery from the crisis. In that regard, we are extremely concerned by the rise in xenophobic and hateful rhetoric. Our region is sadly well-placed to know how hateful comments on social media can translate into violence, deaths, and deep divides among societies. 

We therefore urge you and all ASEAN leaders to immediately publicly acknowledge the risk that hate speech represents and to speak out against discrimination of all kinds. Your intervention, as our region’s leaders, could play an important preventative role to ensure unity and peace. 

Finally, we would like to exhort you to use your leadership to organise urgent collective search and rescue operations for boats carrying Rohingya refugees and to organise for their proper disembarkation. We cannot overstate the shame that falls upon us collectively when our governments choose to push people back to die at sea. 

Ultimately, addressing this situation will require that ASEAN fully uses its political leverage to ensure that Myanmar addresses the root causes of the human rights crisis in Rakhine State, ends all attacks on civilians and restores the rights of the Rohingya. 

In the spirit of a “Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN,” we hope that Vietnam will use its leadership to ensure that ASEAN’s “new normal” is one of a truly people-centered ASEAN – that is inclusive, sustainable, and that benefits all. 

Yours sincerely,

Charles Santiago 
Chairperson of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights Member of Parliament, Malaysia 

CC: 

His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah
H.E Prime Minister Hun Sen
H.E President Joko Widodo
H.E Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith
H.E Tan Sri Muhyiddin Haji Mohd Yassin
H.E State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi 
H.E President Rodrigo Roa Duterte
H.E Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
H.E Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha