Negotiating Governance on Non-Traditional Security in Southeast Asia and Beyond by Mely Caballero-Anthony

Author:Mely Caballero-Anthony [Caballero-Anthony, Mely]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Public Policy, NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations), Political Science, World, Asian, Security (National & International), Environmental Policy
ISBN: 9780231544498
Google: H2NbDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 53321419
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2018-12-18T00:00:00+00:00

Conclusion

With the high likelihood of more extreme weather patterns and large-scale natural disasters, HADR work in the region in the short- to medium-term will continue to focus on disaster management and response. As we have seen, the region has developed a range of mechanisms for HADR response. But with catastrophic natural disasters also come massive displacement of people. The issue of providing protection to internally displaced populations is something that has yet to be discussed seriously in the region’s humanitarian agenda. Resettling those who are displaced often takes a much longer time and entails a longer commitment, while the region has mostly engaged in disaster management and response of a limited time span. But addressing this will not be easy.

The displacement of people due to natural disasters is one that is under-addressed even at the international level. There is a global framework, the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, but that deals with protection of internally displaced populations due to armed conflict and violence. There has yet to be one for the protection of people forced out their national borders due to natural disasters. International refugee law provides strong protection for people fleeing abroad and provides refugees with legal status with attributed status rights. However, international refugee law was not conceived to protect persons displaced across borders by the effects of climate change, even though they may find themselves in a refugee-like situation. There are platforms that discuss the plight of climate-induced “refugees” such as the Nansen Conference, but in the main, this is an issue that East Asia needs to lead the way on. As a disaster-prone region, the probability of more people displaced by natural disasters is high, which makes it imperative that the region confront the issue—and soon.

Finally, as AADMER progresses to deal with all types of disasters, natural and human-induced, the question as to whether the region is ready to deal with humanitarian crises caused by armed conflicts and political violence cannot be ignored. Thus far, AADMER’s use of the term “human-induced” has been left ambiguous by omission: it is silent on situations of humanitarian crises in conflict settings. In an integrated community like ASEAN and East Asia, the consequences of humanitarian crises from armed conflict (such as displacements, violence, and human rights issues) have transboundary effects. There is therefore the expectation that ASEAN, through its established HADR frameworks, should be able to cooperate in providing assistance to vulnerable communities. In this regard, ASEAN and its East Asian neighbors cannot continue to avoid dealing with hard and difficult issues, nor can they remain constrained by regional norms of consensus building.

To be sure, humanitarian crises from armed conflict and political violence increase the complexity of humanitarian assistance. Pushing ahead, there are developments that could serve as entry points for more proactive response by ASEAN’s HADR mechanisms. For example, the prolonged armed conflict that broke out in Marawi in the Philippines between government troops and Muslim extremists has galvanized regional support to help the four hundred thousand internally displaced persons there.

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