Thailand and Asean need to expedite short-term practical solutions such as absorption and labour arrangements to address the refugee crisis, as well as stop citing the pretext of being refugee non-signatories and abide by the international non-refoulement principle, according to a seminar yesterday.
Asean experiences in dealing with refugees in the 1970s were more heterogeneous (Indochinese), but the current refugees in the region include not only those in the camps but urban refugees living in flats or apartments, according to research conducted by Indonesia's Habibie Centre.
Among refugees in Malaysia, 90% are from Myanmar and one-third are Rohingya. The country is changing from a transit status to a destination country, said the report presented at the public seminar.
Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, which host 60% of refugees in the region, are not signatories of the 1951 refugee convention; hence policies and practices were adopted ad hoc, and have been optional and changeable, said Hasan Ansori, a Habibie Center senior researcher.
Those policy measures, said Mr Ansori, were mostly expedited to strengthen domestic scrutiny rather than to accommodate the interests of refugees and respond to their plight.
"Civil society in these countries has been urging the ratification of the refugee convention, but these Asean governments don't have a strong political will to do so," said the Indonesian researcher at the Chulalongkorn University seminar.
Wirya Adiwena, from the same centre, said despite domestic constraints, civil society and scholars should still push for practical solutions such as expediting a collective chunk of conventions agreed by most Asean countries.
Thailand's representative at the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, Seree Nonthasoot, said Asean nations remained the duty bearers for refugees as they were signatories to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, among others.
Mr Seree suggested that Asean countries, particularly Thailand, should consider absorption and integration of refugees for practical reasons, since it is unlikely the hundreds of thousands in border camps would be repatriated to third countries or back home while Thailand needs labour.
"It's a false assumption that helping refugees would pool more into the countries," he said.
Host countries, Mr Adiwena added, should provide refugee children with some primary education which would help them to pursue jobs in the future.
Zakee Phithakkumpol, Prince of Songkla University's Peace Study Centre, said domestic politics among Asean countries pushed away refugees such as in the case of the repatriation of Uighurs to China and the push-back of Rohingyas.
Patawee Treekarunasawad, an official at the Foreign Ministry's International Organisation Department, said the Thai government last month adopted a positive step towards setting up a committee on illegal immigrants and refugee management.