ASEAN SEC-GEN SURIN DISCUSSES ASEAN, BURMA,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 000454 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS, NSC FOR PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/12/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV TH SUBJECT: ASEAN SEC-GEN SURIN DISCUSSES ASEAN, BURMA, ROHINGYA, AND THE THAI SOUTH IN BANGKOK BANGKOK 00000454 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: DCM James F. Entwistle, reason 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) Summary. ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan engaged U.S. officials from Embassies Rangoon and Bangkok, as well as EAP/MLS, in Bangkok February 9 on ASEAN, engagement in Burma, the Rohingya, and efforts to resolve the situation in Thailand's deep south. Surin stated optimistically that the ASEAN Charter could take the region into a new era of rules-based engagement; expressed hope that the trilateral mechanism set up to address post-cyclone recovery in Burma could be expanded and extended; called the plight of the Rohingya a humanitarian situation and a litmus test for the new ASEAN; and suggested a resolution of deep seated grievances in Thailand's south would require some form of self-governance. End Summary. "Charter gives ASEAN a dynamism it lacked" -------------- ¶2. (SBU) ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan met Embassy Rangoon Charge Dinger, EAP/MLS deputy director Palmer, Embassy Bangkok POL Counselor, and Embassy Rangoon P/E Chief February 9 in Bangkok. Looking forward, Surin asserted that ASEAN currently enjoyed forward momentum. In particular, the ASEAN Charter gave the organization a new dynamism, transforming it into a rules-based organization. Ten different partners had appointed Ambassadors to/for ASEAN, starting with the U.S. and including the UK, France, and the EU. The Czech Republic and Sweden were next, Surin added. Surin expressed hope that ASEAN could develop its full potential but stressed that this depended on member governments. Palmer noted that outside partners placed hope that Surin could provide more active leadership from the Secretary General position than had been the case in the past, not merely leaving it up to member governments. Burma/TCG - expanding ASEAN's role incrementally -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) Charge Dinger expressed USG hopes that it would be possible to build on the post-Cyclone Nargis Tripartite Core Group (TCG) mechanism. Surin said that he had made clear his expectations on this score with former Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister (now head of the Civil Service) and TCG Chair Kyaw Thu. Surin hoped that the ASEAN-brokered presence and activities would remain meaningful, not just diplomatic cover. Surin aspired to expand the TCG mechanism beyond the cyclone-affected Delta and to broaden its mandate to include policy issues to make assistance sustainable. He asked: how would it be possible to engage on agriculture, for instance, without a discussion of land ownership and pricing mechanisms? Another hope was to expand the ASEAN volunteer program by using volunteers from Burma in neighboring Laos and Cambodia. Surin stressed he was trying to be creative; he hoped for a TCG extension of three years to the end of the PONREPP (Post-Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan) process. ¶4. (C) Charge Dinger noted that U Kyaw Thu had told him that if donor countries offered enough, Burmese authorities likely would agree to an extension; Kyaw Thu suggested, however, without additional resources, the regime did not see the point in an extension. Surin stressed that an ASEAN-led mechanism like the TCG had advantages for Burma as Chair, and he expected the Burmese to be pragmatic in relation to deliverables. He added that several other new ASEAN members (note: a reference to Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam) remained reluctant to allow ASEAN a sustained role in Burma for fear of the precedent it would set. Rohingya Issue: "Litmus test for the new ASEAN" -------------- -- ¶5. (C) Surin called the plight of the Rohingya a "humanitarian issue" and cautioned against complicating it with religion. He dismissed Thai claims that the Rohingya might join Muslim Malay insurgents in southern Thailand, but noted that the Thai MFA had moved quickly to engage UNHCR and offer access once the story of maritime pushbacks emerged. Surin called the Rohingya situation a "litmus test for the BANGKOK 00000454 002.2 OF 002 new ASEAN," an issue that could not be avoided. ¶6. (C) Charge Dinger noted that if ASEAN wanted to be taken seriously, it needed to tackle such regional problems. He inquired whether the Rohingya would be on the agenda for the February 27-March 1 ASEAN Summit. Surin deferred to Thailand as the Chair and host to set the formal summit agenda but observed that the side group proposed by the Thai MFA was a good idea. Surin appealed to the USG and other international actors to keep the issue on the radar screen through media and NGO activities and by publicly appealing for ASEAN to implement its human rights body. ¶7. (C) Note: discussions about how the Rohingya issue might be addressed at the upcoming February 27-March 1 ASEAN Summit continue. The Thai MFA has proposed a side-meeting to include Bangladesh; Surin told a February 20 video conference linking ASEAN civil society representatives that not all of the invited countries had responded. Thai government spokesman Panitan said February 18 that Thai PM Abhisit would raise the Rohingya issue in the Leader's Discussion. Tackling the Thai South Challenge -------------- ¶8. (C) Surin, who wrote his Harvard PhD dissertation on Muslim Malay identity in the Thai deep south and retains close ties with the ruling Democrat Party, offered cautious positive comments about the stated intent of the current Abhisit administration to address the long-standing grievances of the local population in the deep south that feed the insurgency. Surin stressed that any durable solution must offer some form of self-governance. He underscored that "the route to that end will be long" and will require leadership able to explain such a policy to the whole country. ¶9. (U) This cable has been coordinated with Embassy Rangoon. JOHN