• OPINION

  Handle Myanmar influxes with care

  Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 19/04/2024

  » 'Preparedness" and "humane response" offer keywords for handling the various mass influxes from Myanmar. Those influxes might range from civilians in search of refuge to fighters ("combatants") in flight, all the more poignant today because of the armed conflagration in that country and the precarious border situation.

• OPINION

  Building bridges from Asia to Africa the right way

  Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 29/04/2023

  » The quest to build bridges between Asia and Africa is longstanding. A Chinese Admiral -- Zheng He -- led a series of voyages from East Asia to East Africa, down to Kenya and possibly Zanzibar, from the year 1405. The ships he navigated were enormous -- about 400 feet long and 100 feet wide (122 metres by 30.5m) -- especially when compared with Christopher Columbus' Santa Maria, which was about 70 feet long. For centuries, people have also migrated and traded between the two regions.

• OPINION

  Humanising policy towards refugees

  Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 02/03/2023

  » The recent death of a Uighur man -- who had sought refuge in Thailand and was subsequently detained for nearly a decade, was a sad reflection of the unbalanced response towards persons who seek refuge, or "refugees", in this country. Various groups currently seek protection from persecution, armed conflicts and key human rights violations in their country of origin, and they deserve to be treated decently and humanely.

• OPINION

  Gateways for action on Myanmar crisis

  Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 11/01/2023

  » The coup in Myanmar in 2021 brought back to power a junta-based regime and compounded grave violations, adding fuel to a recurrent crisis. A constructive gateway for action in December 2022 was thus the adoption of the UN Security Council (SC) Resolution 2669, the first substantive resolution highlighting urgently needed measures on the issue.

• OPINION

  Thais leaving their mark in the law

  News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 20/12/2021

  » In 2021 Thailand benefited from at least two good pieces of news in regard to international law, a subject closely interlinked with international relations.

• OPINION

  Stop deporting Cambodian refugees

  Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 01/12/2021

  » The recent deportation of three internationally recognised Cambodian refugees provoked an international outcry, much to Thailand's embarrassment. The first two were deported from Thailand on Nov 9, while the third was sent back home on Nov 20 to also face the risk of political persecution. Such efforts to "push back" refugees have regrettably tarnished Thailand's generally commendable policy and practice of offering refuge to persons fleeing persecution and other dangers from foreign territories. This is all the more poignant since Thailand's human rights record is in the middle of being assessed in Geneva under the UN's Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

• OPINION

  UN review shows human rights flaws

  Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 17/11/2021

  » The international human rights system consists primarily of two parts: international human rights treaties to which countries are invited to become parties on the basis of their consent, and the UN's own jurisdiction, through the UN Human Rights Council, covering all countries even if they do not consent to the coverage. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) belongs to the latter part of the system and Thailand's recent appearance before this process on Nov 10, in public and online, was eye-opening.

• OPINION

  Solidarity needed to halt crisis

  News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 16/03/2021

  » The desperate situation in Myanmar calls for concerted international solidarity to counter the Feb 1 coup d'etat and its heinous consequences. To date, scores of people have been killed by junta forces, while several thousands have been detained. The crisis compounds two disquieting situations of a longstanding and multi-faceted nature in the country -- the mistreatment of the Rohingya population (a Muslim community) and the decades-long civil war between the authorities and different ethnic groups.

• OPINION

  Protecting migrants, refugees in our age of conflict

  News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 07/01/2020

  » There are about 270 million international migrants today who cross borders in search of new vistas. Many such as "expatriates" do well. However, many, particularly those who are pushed out of their homes, are caught in a trap of dislocation, dispossession and coercion, often due to armed conflicts, discrimination and violence. The number of forced migrants now stands at about 70 million people globally -- some 30 million who cross borders as "refugees" and some 40 million forced to move in their country of origin as "internally displaced persons".

• OPINION

  Asean watchdog needs substantive protection role

  News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 06/06/2019

  » The Asean Intergovernmental Commission On Human Rights (AICHR) is 10 years old this year. How has it fared so far? In its work, it is the promotion-oriented aspect rather than the protection-based dimension which has prevailed to date and, with that ambivalence, the performance of AICHR leaves much to be desired.

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