The beginning of the monsoon rains in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, coupled with the international spotlight on human traffickers in the region, appears to have slowed the flight of Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar in recent weeks. But once the storms run their course, sometime around October, migrant departures could again erupt and create another humanitarian crisis in the region.

Regional governments, the United Nations, and the U.S. government should use the intervening four months to begin addressing some of the root push-and-pull factors prompting the refugees to board the boats of traffickers in a risky effort to reach neighboring countries.

Thousands of western Myanmar’s stateless Rohingya, of which there are roughly 1 million, have fled the country each year by boat due to discrimination, dire poverty, and a lack of opportunity. Many of them have been trafficked to work on Thai fishing boats; others have ended up on the Thai border before eventually being trafficked to Malaysia, where many have been able to find menial jobs.

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Biweekly Update

• Myanmar ethnic leaders approve draft ceasefire agreement
• Aquino discusses arms transfers, visiting forces agreement in Tokyo
• Thai army general surrenders in migrant trafficking probe

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Looking Ahead

• Banyan Tree Leadership Forum with K Shanmugam
• Tackling Southeast Asia’s Refugee Crisis
• CSIS Conference on Philippine Economy

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Tackling Southeast Asia’s Migrant Crisis

By Murray Hiebert (@MurrayHiebert1), Senior Fellow and Deputy Director, Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies (@SoutheastAsiaDC), CSIS

June 11, 2015

The beginning of the monsoon rains in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, coupled with the international spotlight on human traffickers in the region, appears to have slowed the flight of Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar in recent weeks. But once the storms run their course, sometime around October, migrant departures could again erupt and create another humanitarian crisis in the region.

Regional governments, the United Nations, and the U.S. government should use the intervening four months to begin addressing some of the root push-and-pull factors prompting the refugees to board the boats of traffickers in a risky effort to reach neighboring countries.

Thousands of western Myanmar’s stateless Rohingya, of which there are roughly 1 million, have fled the country each year by boat due to discrimination, dire poverty, and a lack of opportunity. Many of them have been trafficked to work on Thai fishing boats; others have ended up on the Thai border before eventually being trafficked to Malaysia, where many have been able to find menial jobs.

In its 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report, the State Department downgraded Thailand and Malaysia to Tier 3, the lowest rating, for not tackling human trafficking. Earlier this year, the European Union threatened to block Thai seafood imports unless the government demonstrated progress in ending the widespread use of forced labor in its fishing industry.

In response, Thailand launched a probe into human trafficking in early May that resulted in efforts to block migrant ships from landing on Thai shores. Within days, refugee workers warned that thousands of desperate migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh were drifting around the Andaman Sea and the Malacca Straits in unseaworthy boats, abandoned by smugglers and then refused landing by Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. That emergency began to ease after May 20 when Malaysia and Indonesia announced that they would provide temporary refuge for the migrants stranded at sea and dispatch ships to look for them.

A critical issue that needs to be addressed in tackling the refugee crisis is the treatment of the Rohingya. The United Nations estimates that more than 130,000 Rohingya have left Myanmar by boat in the past three years, driven by abuse that has worsened as anti-Muslim sentiments boiled over after Myanmar launched political reforms. Scores died in conflicts with the Buddhist majority in 2012, and roughly 140,000 were rounded up in camps surrounded by barbed wire. The government, which insists that even those whose families have lived in Myanmar for generations are Bengalis, denies the Rohingya citizenship and restricts their right to travel.

Last month, Soe Thane, a presidential adviser who is considered a reformer, urged in an opinion piece in Japan’s Nikkei Weekly that the international community consider providing greater assistance to Rakhine State, where the Rohingya live, to help tackle the abject poverty that is driving many to leave. Investing in economic projects that would create jobs could reduce the numbers seeking to flee, the minister argued. And boosting the economic fortunes of the Buddhist Rakhine population could help assuage their grievances against the Rohingya.

For the United Nations, ASEAN, and countries such as the United States and Japan to explore economic aid for the entire population of Rakhine would require a commitment from Myanmar that it would agree to offer the Rohingya some form of citizenship, fair treatment, and protection. Priscilla Clapp, a former U.S. chief of mission in Myanmar, argues that any consideration of citizenship and protection of the Rohingya would require assurances that Myanmar would not face a new influx of migrants from Bangladesh. This, Clapp says, would require international aid to help those Rohingya across the border in Bangladesh and convince the government in Dhaka to “normalize” the status of its Rohingya population.

Convincing the Myanmar government to provide more rights for the Rohingya ahead of elections in November would undoubtedly be a challenge. Anti-Muslim sentiment among the majority Buddhist population is widespread and deeply held, so any effort to help the Rohingya could easily create a backlash.

A second issue that needs to be tackled is that of the people smugglers who have long made their livelihoods ferrying migrants from Myanmar to hook up with traffickers along the Thai-Malaysia border. To tackle piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Horn of Africa, a coalition of countries has provided ships to deter and disrupt pirate attacks. A similar operation could possibly be developed for the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal, perhaps involving the coalition patrolling the Straits of Malacca to discourage and interrupt the operations of human smugglers.

The third issue that needs to be addressed is the human trafficking along the Thai-Malaysia border. Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur have both launched probes into trafficking in recent months. Thailand announced last month that it had discovered about three dozen bodies in a makeshift camp near the Thai-Malaysia border. Meanwhile in Malaysia, officials around the same time took journalists to see about 150 graves near the Thai border in what they suspected were human trafficking camps.

In Thailand, more than 50 people, including an army officer and local officials, have been arrested in recent weeks on charges of human trafficking, detention, and/or ransom. Police are reportedly looking for several dozen others. It is critical that the United States and other governments press the Thai military government to put an end to the trafficking. As a next step, the military should approve an independent investigation (in cooperation with the United Nations), release the results, and bring to justice those responsible for perpetrating these abuses.

Malaysia’s demotion to Tier 3 in the U.S. human trafficking report has prompted some in Congress to call for Malaysia to be expelled from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement currently under negotiation. In a compromise, congressional leaders working on the TPP have agreed that Malaysia can remain in the negotiations as long as the U.S. secretary of state certifies that the government is taking “concrete steps” to combat trafficking. They argue that this would help Malaysia see concrete benefits from taking the politically challenging steps of tackling trafficking.

Short of an international diplomatic and economic effort to tackle this complex and multilayered problem, it is quite possible that another outpouring of refugees could erupt before the end of the year.

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Biweekly Update

Myanmar

Ethnic leaders approve draft cease-fire agreement. Leaders of the 16 ethnic armed groups that make up the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) and the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front on June 9 approved a draft cease-fire agreement following an eight-day summit in Karen State. Ethnic leaders made a number of amendments to the draft agreement reached by representatives of the NCCT and the government in March. Ethnic leaders also insisted that the three NCCT members still battling government troops—the Arakan Army, Ta’ang National Liberation Army, and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army—be included in any final agreement. The government hopes to sign a final cease-fire deal with ethnic groups in June.

U.S. urges Myanmar to treat Rohingya as citizens. Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Anne Richard said during a June 3 press conference in Jakarta that Myanmar needs to treat Muslim Rohingya as citizens by granting them identity cards and passports. Richard was in Southeast Asia to discuss the ongoing migrant crisis with regional partners. Meanwhile Myanmar’s navy on June 3 allowed a boat carrying over 700 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants to dock in western Rakhine State after having kept it at sea for days. Myanmar authorities on June 8 began deporting those migrants to Bangladesh.

Government releases census results with no ethnic or religious data. Myanmar on May 29 released the results of its 2014 nationwide census, its first in more than three decades, but provided no data on the country’s ethnic or religious makeup. The United Nations Population Fund said such information is expected to be released next year, following elections expected this November. The census omitted parts of Kachin and Karen states that are controlled by ethnic rebels and excluded individuals in Rakhine State who self-identified as Rohingya.

Shwe Mann to lead ruling party through elections. The Central Executive Committee of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) on June 1 decided to retain parliamentary leader Shwe Mann as its chairman in the run-up to the national elections in November. Shwe Mann will also serve as president of the party’s elections committee. USDP general-secretary Thein Shwe said that whether Shwe Mann will receive the party’s backing as a presidential candidate depends on the outcome of the elections, and that the USDP might instead support President Thein Sein if he seeks reelection.

China holds live-fire exercise along border with Myanmar. China’s military on June 2 launched live-fire land and air drills along its border with northern Myanmar’s Kokang region, where fighting between government troops and ethnic Kokang rebels in recent months has caused several bombs to fall in Chinese territory, killing at least five Chinese nationals. China’s Defense Ministry said it has informed Naypyidaw but did not announce an end date to the exercise. China stepped up air patrols in the border area following the first bombing incident in March.

Aung San Suu Kyi visits China. National League for Democracy (NLD) chairwoman and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in China on June 10 for her first visit to the country. An NLD spokesperson said Aung San Suu Kyi will stay through June 14 and will meet with President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang, as well as other top Chinese leaders. The trip was initially scheduled for December 2014 but was delayed due to protocol issues.

Philippines

Aquino inks patrol boat deal; discusses arms transfers, visiting forces agreement in Tokyo. President Benigno Aquino during a June 2–6 visit to Tokyo signed a final agreement to purchase 10 coast guard patrol boats from Japan, to be financed by a low-interest $150 million loan from the Japanese government. Aquino met with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe during his visit and discussed potential sales of Japanese defense equipment to the Philippines. Aquino and Abe also agreed to begin discussions on a visiting forces agreement to allow Japanese troops to engage in more joint training and other cooperative efforts in the Philippines.

Philippines, Taiwan engage in coast guard stand-off. The Philippine and Taiwanese coast guards became involved in a stand-off in the Luzon Strait on May 25 when a Philippine Coast Guard vessel interdicted a Taiwanese fishing boat it alleged was fishing in Philippine waters. Philippine authorities attempted to tow the fishing boat to shore but were confronted by a Taiwanese Coast Guard ship, which eventually negotiated the fishing vessel’s release. The Philippines and Taiwan are negotiating a fisheries agreement for waters claimed by both in the Luzon Strait.

Philippine economic growth slowest in three years. The Philippine Statistical Authority on May 28 announced that the economy grew 5.2 percent in the first quarter of 2015, its slowest pace since the third quarter of 2011. Growth dropped from 6.6 percent the previous quarter and was down from 5.6 percent in the first quarter of 2014. Many economists blamed the slowdown on lower-than-expected exports and government spending. Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said new government regulations created a bottleneck to government spending, slowing growth.

Authorities arrest Communist leader. The Philippine military and police on June 2 arrested Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) secretary-general Adelberto Silva, his wife, and another CPP member in a joint raid outside Manila. Silva took over leadership of the party after the March 2014 arrest of CPP chairman Benito Tiamzon and his wife, then-CPP secretary-general Wilma Tiamzon. Silva faces 15 charges of murder for his alleged role in the 1985 killings of members of the New People’s Army—the armed wing of the CPP—suspected of spying for the government.

Senate recommends plunder charges against Vice President Binay. A 17-member Philippine Senate blue ribbon subcommittee on June 1 recommended that the Senate Ombudsman file plunder charges against Vice President Jejomar Binay and his son, Makati mayor Jejomar Binay Jr. Both are accused of graft in relation to the construction of a parking building at Makati City Hall during their back-to-back tenures as mayor. Senator Grace Poe, a potential challenger to Binay in the 2016 presidential elections, was among those senators who signed the recommendation.

Thailand

Army general surrenders in migrant trafficking probe. Thai army general Manas Kongpaen turned himself in to police on June 3 to face charges for his alleged engagement in human trafficking in southern Thailand. Manas faces multiple charges of human trafficking, assisting aliens to illegally enter the country, illegally detaining people, and seeking ransoms for migrants during his time in charge of army operations to combat trafficking in southern Thailand. Authorities in Thailand in recent weeks have arrested dozens of people, including local officials, for involvement in trafficking, but Manas is the first military officer detained.

National Reform Council members press for fully elected senate. Members of Thailand’s National Reform Council (NRC) met with the Constitutional Drafting Committee on June 1–5 to discuss several points of contention in the new draft charter. NRC members raised particular concerns about the draft charter’s stipulation that the Senate will be only partially elected and all candidates must be pre-selected by a “selection panel.” Members of the council instead proposed the return to a fully elected Senate, as was the case with Thailand’s 1997 constitution, and the elimination of the proposed selection panel. NRC members also proposed that voters be given the option of delaying a constitutional referendum and general election for two years to allow the junta to complete national reforms.

Police detain 22 in hunt for Yala bombers. Authorities have detained 22 suspects for questioning over their alleged involvement in a series of 56 small bombings from May 14 to 16 at 44 locations in the southern province of Yala. Eighteen people were injured in the bombings, which also caused widespread property damage. Three people have so far confessed to taking part in the bombings, which ended a period of decreased violence in southern Thailand in recent months.

Student activists arrested after peaceful protest. Thai authorities on May 22 arrested more than 40 activists, mainly students, in Bangkok and elsewhere in the country who were holding peaceful rallies to mark the one-year anniversary of the coup that overthrew former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government. It was the largest crackdown on dissidents since the junta seized power in May 2014. Thai authorities on June 5 dropped charges against four of the student activists. Human Rights Watch Thailand has reported that activists were abused by security forces.

South China Sea

Carter defends U.S. commitment to freedom of navigation in South China Sea. U.S. defense secretary Ashton Carter reiterated the United States’ commitment to peaceful resolution of disputes and protection of international law and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea during his May 30 speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. Carter did not say whether U.S. ships and planes would transit within 12 nautical miles of Chinese artificial islands to assert freedom of navigation, but indicated they would be within their rights to do so. Carter also announced a new $425 million U.S. initiative to help Southeast Asian states improve their naval and coast guard capabilities.

Taiwan’s president proposes South China Sea Peace Initiative. Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou on May 26 proposed a South China Sea Peace Initiative under which claimants would set aside their disputes and enter negotiations to share resources in disputed waters. The initiative seems to be modeled on a proposal Taiwan made for the East China Sea in 2012, under which Taiwan and Japan jointly fish in disputed waters. Ma also demanded that freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea be protected.

U.S. says China placed two mobile artillery units on reclaimed features. A U.S. Pentagon spokesperson on May 29 confirmed that U.S. surveillance images in April revealed that China had placed two mobile artillery weapons systems on one of the features it has reclaimed in the Spratly Islands. A spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry said she had no information regarding the systems, which the Pentagon says have since been either removed or covered up. Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John McCain called the deployment “disturbing and escalatory.”

Malaysia protests Chinese Coast Guard ship at Luconia Shoals. Malaysia on June 8 objected to the intrusion a week earlier of a Chinese Coast Guard ship into waters around the Luconia Shoals—an area of rocks and submerged shoals south of the disputed Spratly Islands—and said Prime Minister Najib Razak would raise the issue with Chinese president Xi Jinping. Shahidan Kassim, a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, posted photos to Facebook on June 2 showing the Chinese ship anchored near the shoals, which Malaysia maintains are not disputed, and said Malaysian navy and coast guard vessels had been deployed to monitor it.

Indonesia

Special Forces launch investigation into brawl with Air Force. The commander of Indonesia’s Army Special Forces (Kopassus), Doni Monardo, on June 2 launched an investigation into a fatal incident between Kopassus and Air Force soldiers at a karaoke parlor in Sukoharjo in Central Java that saw one Air Force soldier killed and three injured. Seven Kopassus soldiers who were reportedly involved in the attack against Air Force personnel have been turned over to military police. Kopassus personnel were found guilty of murdering four inmates at a prison in Yogyakarta in 2013.

Corruption Eradication Commission files appeal against tax scandal pretrial verdict. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on June 2 filed an appeal against a pretrial verdict issued by the South Jakarta District Court in May ordering the commission to stop investigating former Finance Ministry director-general of taxation Hadi Poernomo for alleged graft in a tax scandal involving Bank Central Asia. The KPK and corruption watchdog groups have been increasingly concerned that corruption suspects may seek to use pretrial motions to thwart the commission’s investigations in the future.

Golkar reaches limited reconciliation. Aburizal Bakrie and Agung Laksono, the leaders of two rival camps within the Golkar party, on May 30 signed a “limited reconciliation” brokered by Vice President Jusuf Kalla, a former Golkar chairman. The deal will allow the party to register candidates for regional elections in December following an announcement by the National Election Commission that parties in the midst of an internal struggle would not be able to register candidates. Kalla said that he is also ready to help mediate the United Development Party’s ongoing leadership crisis.

FIFA bans Indonesia from international soccer matches. The International Federation of Association Football, known by its French acronym FIFA, on June 3 banned Indonesia from playing in international soccer matches for an indefinite period due to what the governing body says were attempts by Jakarta to take over the Indonesian Football Association in violation of FIFA’s rules. FIFA decided to allow Indonesia to compete in the 2015 Southeast Asian Games in Singapore, which are currently underway.

Malaysia

Nik Aziz’s son elected PAS youth chief; PAS religious council wants cut ties with DAP. Nik Mohamad Abduh won a landslide vote on June 3 to become chief of the youth wing of the opposition Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS). Nik Abduh is the son of Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, the spiritual leader of PAS who died in February and who played an important role in keeping Malaysia’s opposition coalition unified. PAS’s religious council passed a motion on the same day supporting cutting ties with its coalition partner, the Democratic Action Party, following disagreements between the two over the implementation of hudud, or Islamic penal code, in the northern state of Kelantan and the formation of a shadow cabinet.

Central bank launches probe into 1MDB; investment fund receives $1 billion lifeline. Malaysia’s central bank on June 3 launched a formal inquiry into the embattled state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) over whether it has obtained proper permission for its offshore borrowings and investments. Any investments exceeding $13.5 million per year or loans exceeding $26.6 million require the central bank’s approval. 1MDB is expected to receive $1 billion from two companies controlled by the Abu Dhabi government to pay back some of its debt. The investment fund has taken steps to break down its total debt of over $11 billion.

Anwar Ibrahim hospitalized with health problems. Former Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was admitted to a hospital in Kuala Lumpur on June 2 due to poor health and weight loss in prison. Anwar was discharged and returned to prison on June 5, after the hospital determined that test results showed no evidence of any serious medical conditions. Anwar is serving a five-year jail sentence for a sodomy conviction. His wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, was recently elected Malaysia’s new opposition leader.

New Malaysia Airlines chief announces restructuring plans. Christoph Mueller, the newly appointed chief executive of Malaysia Airlines, on June 1 said that the national carrier is “technically bankrupt,” and that it will need to lay off a third of its staff, cut some international routes, and review its long-haul fleet. Mueller previously led Ireland’s Aer Lingus and Germany’s Lufthansa, successfully revamping the two carriers. He also said that Malaysia Airlines’ performance had deteriorated long before its two plane crashes in 2014.

Malaysia refuses entry to Hong Kong democracy activists. Malaysian authorities on May 26 refused to let Hong Kong student activist Joshua Wong enter Malaysia to participate in a series of discussions on democracy in China. Wong was a key player in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, which began in late 2014. The government denied entry to another Hong Kong political activist and opposition lawmaker, Leung Kwok-hung, three days later. Police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said Malaysia blacklisted Wong for fear of harming its ties with China.

Death toll in Sabah earthquake rises. A 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Malaysia’s highest peak, Mount Kinabalu, in eastern Sabah State on June 5 has caused the deaths of at least 16 climbers. Authorities have recovered the bodies of the victims, the majority of whom were from Singapore and Malaysia. Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on June 7 said that Malaysia will continue searching for those who may still be missing in the aftermath of the earthquake. Muhyiddin also announced that the government will compensate the families of Malaysian victims.

Vietnam

U.S. and Vietnam sign joint vision statement on defense. U.S. defense secretary Ashton Carter and Vietnamese defense minister Phung Quang Thanh on June 1 signed a Joint Vision Statement on Defense Relations, which aims to deepen bilateral defense cooperation. The statement, signed during Carter’s three-day visit to Vietnam, builds on an agreement on advancing bilateral defense relations that the two countries signed in 2011, and highlights co-production of military equipment and joint peacekeeping training as two new potential areas of cooperation.

Vietnam receives two new attack boats. The Vietnamese navy on June 2 received two new Molniya-class missile boats that were built domestically based on Russian designs. The vessels are the third and fourth of six Molniya-class vessels that the navy has commissioned. Vietnam has in recent years stepped up efforts to modernize its naval and air force capabilities in response to China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.

Vietnam signs trade agreement with Eurasian Economic Union. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on May 29 signed a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) during his visit to Kazakhstan, in what will be the bloc’s first trade agreement with a non-member. Annual trade between Vietnam and the EEU, which includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia, is expected to grow to $10 billion by 2020 from $4 billion currently, according to Viktor Khristenko, chairman of the board of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

Civil society activist beaten by plainclothes police officers; prominent blogger released. Civil society activist Pham Thanh Nghien was beaten by plainclothes police officers on June 2 in front of her home outside Hanoi. Blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, who was traveling to Nghien’s home with two other bloggers for a meeting, said that plainclothes police officers beat Nghien in order to force Quynh and the other bloggers to leave, according to Radio Free Asia. Separately, authorities on May 26 released well-known blogger Truong Duy Nhat, who was sentenced to two years in jail for “abusing democratic freedoms.”

Intel to transfer part of its microchip production from Malaysia to Vietnam. Intel Corporation recently announced plans to relocate part of its production at a facility in Kulim, Malaysia, to Ho Chi Minh City and Chengdu, China, in order to reduce labor costs, according to a June 4 Tuoi Tre report. Intel’s Vietnam representative, Sherry Boger, had earlier announced that the company will build a second production line at its plant in Ho Chi Minh City and that 80 percent of Intel’s semiconductor chips will be produced in Ho Chi Minh City by August.

Cambodia

Cabinet passes contentious NGO law. Prime Minister Hun Sen and members of his cabinet on June 5 approved a controversial law regulating nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), which will now go to the National Assembly for approval. The law, which has not been released for public comment, is believed to give the government wide-ranging powers to shut down NGOs or prevent them from registering. U.S. ambassador William Todd has joined local and foreign NGOs in criticizing the government for refusing to allow public comment on the law.

Ruling party president Chea Sim dies at 82. Chea Sim, the 82-year-old head of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and Senate president, died on June 1 of an undisclosed illness. Prime Minister Hun Sen will step in as the new party chief. Sim led a faction of the CPP that was sometimes at odds with Hun Sen. Sim was temporarily forced out of the country in 2004 for refusing to approve constitutional changes allowing the CPP and the opposition Funcinpec party to form a coalition government. Sim’s poor health recently limited him to a mostly symbolic role.

Villagers clash with Vietnamese soldiers at border. A group of more than 400 Cambodian villagers, along with several opposition politicians, on May 31 confronted Vietnamese soldiers along a disputed section of the two countries’ border in southeastern Cambodia’s Tbong Khmum Province in the latest in a series of clashes since Vietnamese soldiers in April reportedly sprayed Cambodian crops in the area with herbicide. The two sides scuffled but no injuries were reported. Cambodian foreign minister Hor Namhong said in response to the April spraying that the land belonged to Vietnam, while opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua on June 1 told the Phnom Penh Post it is “Khmer land.”

First refugees arrive from Australia’s Nauru detention center. A Rohingya from Myanmar and three Iranians arrived in Cambodia on June 4, becoming the first processed refugees from Australia’s asylum-seeker detention center on Nauru to resettle in Cambodia under a controversial deal between Canberra and Phnom Penh. Australia hopes to eventually resettle hundreds of refugees in Cambodia in exchange for $32 million in additional foreign aid. In response to criticism of Cambodia’s ability to provide for the refugees, a spokesperson for Cambodia’s Interior Ministry joked that the compound in which they have been placed is “even more awesome than my house.”

Interior Ministry refuses asylum to Montagnards. An Interior Ministry spokesperson said May 29 that Cambodia is “fed up” with Montagnards crossing into the country from Vietnam and will not grant asylum to any of the 74 currently in Phnom Penh waiting for their refugee status to be processed. More than 130 Montagnards have entered Cambodia since October 2014, 50 of whom Cambodian authorities returned to Vietnam in April despite protests from the United Nations. Cambodia in April stationed 1,000 troops along the Vietnamese border in northern Cambodia’s Ratanakiri Province to prevent further Montagnards from entering the country.

Singapore

Singapore hosts annual Southeast Asia Games. Singaporean president Tony Tan officially opened the 28th biennial Southeast Asian Games on June 5 with a ceremony attended by 50,000 spectators. More than 4,000 athletes from the 10 ASEAN member countries and Timor-Leste traveled to the city-state for the games, which will end on June 16. As of June 10, Singapore was well ahead in the medal count with 60 golds and 175 overall, followed by Vietnam, with 48 golds and 115 overall, and Thailand, with 46 golds and 141 overall.

Amos Yee refuses parole, sent back to prison. A Singaporean court on June 2 ordered 16-year-old blogger Amos Yee remanded in custody for three weeks while it considers whether to send him to the city-state’s Reformative Training Centre for at least 18 months. The court was expected to sentence Yee to a much lighter sentence but was forced to reconsider when he rejected probation, refused meetings with his probation officer, and posted to Facebook and his blog in violation of court orders. Yee was convicted in mid-May of insulting Christianity in a March YouTube video and posting an obscene image online of former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.

APEC

FTAAP progresses in Boracay meeting. Trade ministers from 21 Asia-Pacific economies met in Boracay, the Philippines, on May 23–24 and agreed on the details for a study to identify the challenges and means of pursuing a proposed region-wide free trade agreement, known as the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP). Officials will report progress on the study by November, in time for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ meeting in the Philippines, with the hopes of completing the study by 2016.

Trans-Pacific Partnership

House plans TPA vote in June. Kevin McCarthy, the majority leader of the House of Representatives, on June 1 said the House plans to vote this month on the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill that the Senate passed in May. Congressional approval of TPA will pave the way for the United States to conclude negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement with 11 other countries. Ninety overseas branches of the American Chamber of Commerce have urged Congress to renew TPA.

ASEAN

Obama hosts Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative fellows. President Barack Obama on June 1 hosted a question-and-answer session at the White House with 75 Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) fellows. The event included discussion of the environment, governance, development, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the South China Sea, and the plight of Myanmar’s Rohingya. The 75 YSEALI fellows, who represented all 10 ASEAN countries, spent five weeks working in the nonprofit, private, and government sectors in 13 states and Washington, D.C. The YSEALI program, which Obama launched in Myanmar in November 2014, will eventually bring 500 young professionals to the United States for fellowship programs.

Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste “reactivates” arbitration case against Australia. Prime Minister Rui Araujo on June 3 announced that Timor-Leste would “reactivate” an arbitration case seeking to nullify a 2007 treaty governing access to oil and gas deposits in the Timor Sea between Australia and Timor-Leste. Timorese officials maintain that Australia did not negotiate the treaty in good faith following revelations that Australia’s Secret Intelligence Service spied on the Timorese negotiating team. Timor-Leste has agreed to drop an International Court of Justice case regarding the spying allegations, but will pursue the renegotiation of its maritime boundary to get a larger share of the oil and gas reserves.

Laos

Police detain woman for posting pictures of police extortion on Facebook. Police on May 21 arrested a woman from Xayaburi Province and detained her for a week without a warrant, according to Radio Free Asia. The woman was arrested for having posted pictures on Facebook that purportedly showed police officers trying to extort bribes from her brother. A local police officer confirmed the arrest but said that the officers in the pictures were giving her brother a fine for improperly registering his vehicle.

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Looking Ahead

Adapting the UN for the Twenty-first Century. The Brookings Institution’s Foreign Policy program will host a discussion on June 15 with Susana Malcorra on how the United Nations can adapt to new geopolitical, transnational, and sub-state challenges. Malcorra is the chief of staff to the UN secretary-general. Panelists with take questions from the audience following the discussion. The event will take place from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Brookings’ Falk Auditorium, 1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW. To RSVP, click here.

Banyan Tree Leadership Forum with K Shanmugam. The CSIS Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies will host a Banyan Tree Leadership Forum on June 15 featuring K Shanmugam, Singapore’s minister for foreign affairs and minister for law. Shanmugam will discuss Singapore’s bilateral relations with the United States, regional relationships, and the opportunities and challenges facing Singapore. The event will take place from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at CSIS, 1616 Rhode Island Ave., NW. To RSVP, click here.

Tackling Southeast Asia’s Refugee Crisis. The CSIS Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies will host a panel discussion on June 17 analyzing the refugee crisis in Southeast Asia and exploring possible solutions. Panelists will include Assistant Secretary of State Anne Richard, Ambassador Pisan Manawapat of Thailand, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ Jana Mason, Refugees International’s Michel Gabaudan, United to End Genocide’s Daniel Sullivan, and former Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff member Keith Luse. The event will take place in CSIS’s Second Floor Conference Center, Room B, 1616 Rhode Island Ave., NW. To RSVP, click here or e-mail the Sumitro Chair.

CSIS Conference on Philippine Economy. The CSIS Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia will host a conference on June 24 on the recent growth and prospects of the Philippine economy. The conference will feature three cabinet ministers and high-level panels addressing the Philippine economy and investment opportunities, and explore public-private partnerships for infrastructure development. It will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the CSIS Second Floor Conference Center, 1616 Rhode Island Ave., NW. To RSVP, click here or e-mail the Sumitro Chair.

Cold War Crucible: The Korean Conflict and the Postwar World. The Woodrow Wilson Center will host a discussion with Masuda Hajimu on his book Cold War Crucible: The Korean Conflict and the Postwar World on June 25. Masuda’s book examines policymaking and aftereffects of Cold War politics. The event will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Woodrow Wilson Center, Fifth Floor, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW. To RSVP, click here.

The Fifth Annual South China Sea Conference at CSIS. The Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies will host CSIS’s fifth annual full-day South China Sea conference on July 21. The conference will provide opportunities for in-depth discussion and analysis of U.S. and Asian policy options and feature speakers from throughout the region. The event will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the CSIS Second Floor Conference Center, 1616 Rhode Island Ave., NW. To RSVP, e-mail the Sumitro Chair.

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