Indonesia has frequently obstructed global human rights enforcement by rejecting proposals to strengthen the UNHRC and blocking the council’s requests to assess the human rights situation in Papua.
African Union Summit, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, February 24, 2020. The Chairperson, African Union Commission, H.E. Mr Moussa Faki Mahamat, said that the Commission will strengthen partnerships and coordination across Africa to respond to the Covid-19 outbreak.
African Union
Despite the transnational dimension of the Covid-19 crisis, transnational responses are facing many obstacles. Yet, some regional organisations might be able to expand their mandate and resources.
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi is the only leader not to agree to sign up to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
Australia was hoping to get broader access to Indian markets as part of a new trade deal that covers almost half of the world’s population.
Trade Minister Simon Birmingham and Prime Minister Scott Morrison will both join ASEAN leaders in Thailand, underscoring the importance the government places on the summit.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
The current repatriation deal signed by Myanmar and Bangladesh fails to guarantee the safety and citizenship of the Rohingya people or address issues of justice for crimes perpetrated against them.
Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has long been known as a party boy. Now, he’s imposing strict Islamic religious rule on the people of Brunei.
Reuters/Ahim Rani
Brunei’s new anti-gay Sharia laws are the harshest in the world. Yet few countries have publicly condemned them, and an international boycott could backfire.
After a positive start, Morrison’s relations with his Indonesian counterpart, Joko Widodo, cooled off after he suggested moving the Australian embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has a busy summit season ahead of him. After early foreign policy stumbles, it’s important he reads his briefs, listens to the diplomats and stays humble.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo (R) welcomes Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir (L) upon his arrival at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, Indonesia, 22 October 2018.
Adi Weda/EPA
Climate policy is clearly a threat to the job security of Australian prime ministers, but it could upend our international diplomacy as well, with a string of key summits looming in coming months.
While many of its Asian neighbours are striving to get smoking under control, Indonesia is the stubborn exception.
Both the Foreign Minister and Attorney General have stated Australia will investigate and prosecute alleged perpetrators of international crimes.
AAP/Dan Himbrechts
Talks should include barriers to women’s participation in peace and security institutions, countering violent extremism, foreign fighters, sexual violence in conflict, and the Rohingya crisis.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Indonesian President Joko Widodo arrive for photographs ahead of a bilateral meeting during the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Sydney on March 17, 2018.
Dan Himbrechts/AAP
Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s statement on inviting Australia to join ASEAN has raised speculations that he was just being Javanese. This is the background to that statement.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull addresses a special ASEAN summit in Sydney.
AAP
Past shared history and/or cultural, ethnical or religious homogeneity can no longer be the only determinants of the level of co-operation among nations.
Aung San Suu Kyi has lost much of her goodwill since the 2017 Rohingya crisis.
Hein Htet/AAP
When Aung San Suu Kyi led her party to victory in 2015, many hoped Myanmar’s worst days were behind them. But the government’s complicity in the Rohingya crisis has tarnished her reputation.
There are still some hurdles to be overcome for the ASEAN-Australia relationship to reach its full potential.
EPA/Mast Irham
Australia’s challenge is to prove its utility to ASEAN, and vice versa.
Exchange students from several universities in ASEAN countries at a university in Thailand. Encouraging trans-ASEAN student mobility is a huge challenge.
Thiranun Kunatum/Shutterstock
Southeast Asian countires have a goal to integrate their higher education network to give young generations a truly regional experience. Is it possible?
While ASEAN leaders are increasingly using the rhetoric of prioritising the people in ASEAN, they are often hesitant to drastically change the longstanding regional framework that gives a lot of power to the hands of member states’ elites.
Reuters/Erik de Castro
ASEAN should improve the accreditation process for civil society organisation (CSOs) to support more community-based activities that can help solve regional problems.