ASEAN’S Covid-19 Response: Why Minorities and the Most Vulnerable Matter

can member states emerge more committed to fundamental human rights?

The coronavirus outbreak has posed an enormous challenge to the credibility and coherence of ASEAN, and exposed cracks in the association’s commitment to marginalized communities across the region.

It would be an important sign of progress if ASEAN member states were to emerge from the pandemic with a renewed commitment to fundamental human rights, Dominique Virgil and Roberto Lie argue.

Just WHEN WE THOUGHT the Association of southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) nailed it in flattening the pandemic curve, fear that it will turn into the next epicenter of covid-19 has emerged, based on estimates by research from Johns Hopkins university.1 Aside from Vietnam, which appears to be slowly winning the war against the pandemic, other ASEAN member states are still struggling, including singapore and Malaysia, despite their early success in containing the outbreak. since early April, more than 13,000 migrant workers in singapore’s dormitories have tested positive for covid-19, boosting the total cases to 37,527 as of June 6.2 In the blink of an eye, singapore went from one of the most successful countries in fighting the pandemic to having the highest number of cases in southeast Asia, surpassing Indonesia and the Philippines.

It is safe to imagine the varying impact on other ASEAN countries if a similar, sudden spike in cases were to occur, due to the varying testing and healthcare capacity of each state. Witnessing the deadly impact of this virus and the horror it has caused to the healthcare systems in the European union (Eu), especially in Italy, spain and france, it is safe to say that a harmonious, integrated regional response is vital to determine the final result of this battle. considering the current regional response taken by ASEAN, is it enough to win the war against covid-19?

Current Problems and impacts

covid-19 impacted all sectors in ASEAN, from health to the economy. As mentioned above, the positive cases and deaths are increasing differ

ently, but it disproportionately affects minority groups and the most vulnerable communities across all member states. On the other hand, the economic impact of covid-19 will be exacerbated by the huge increase in poverty following the pandemic. It is predicted that 60 million people in East Asia and the Pacific may be pushed into poverty as a result of a 20 percent loss in income.3 In a separate estimate, the Asian development Bank said that 68 million jobs could be lost due to the pandemic. However, the ADB said ASEAN could begin to overcome the economic impact once the pandemic is contained, but should ensure that all parts of society, including marginalized and vulnerable communities, are included in containment measures.4

this disproportionate impact of covid-19 is exacerbated by systemic disparities in healthcare capacity and differing access to available health services within each country. One measure is testing capacity. figures from late April showed show singapore topping testing capacity in southeast Asia, with 16,203 tests per million people, while Myanmar and Indonesia remained at the bottom with the lowest testing capacity — 85 tests and 154 tests, respectively, per million people.5 speculation about higher numbers of covid-19 deaths compared to official figures has arisen in Indonesia, because the number of people buried using covid-19 protocols exceeds the national figure of covid-19 deaths announced by the government.6

discrepancies among member states in handling the crisis show the urgency of a regional response. despite being among the first countries where positive cases of covid-19 were found, Vietnam has the lowest rate of positive cases and deaths among infected countries and is slowly getting back to normal. Businesses are reopening, people are leaving their homes and restarting their activities. ASEAN member states also have huge gaps in their national healthcare capacities, with a number of health systems unable to keep up with the increasing rate of cases in several countries.

is asean’s Current response sufficient?

ASEAN leaders recently adopted a declaration of the special ASEAN summit on covid-19 on April 14, 2020, after rigorous discussion during an online special summit. In the declaration, ASEAN committed to strengthening co-operation in public health measures, as well as provision of medicines, medical supplies and equipment. the declaration included a call for maintaining open trade, the establishment of a covid-19 ASEAN Response fund, strategies to ensure the smooth flow of medical supplies, food, and essential goods; also included was an economic recovery plan for social safety nets, food security, and education. the next question: is this enough?

due to its ASEAN Way system of co-operation, the grouping has avoided strongly conferring duties to uphold human rights on its members. this has resulted in putting human rights after sovereignty, non-interference and consensus,7 and only expressing vague commitments in non-binding declarations. scholars and civil society have criticized the watered-down language in ASEAN human rights declarations.8 this

9 10 translates into strong protection toward laws that focus on national interests, but weak obligations to bestow protections within those laws, especially on human rights for minorities. A case in point: within the ASEAN declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, Paragraph 3 states that migrant workers’ rights are to be respected without undermining state laws. this is, of course, written to bolster the sovereign power that member states have over their national laws under the non-interfer