VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Malaysia, one of the biggest critics of violence in military-ruled Myanmar, on Wednesday raised the possibility of ASEAN allowing member countries to engage informally with the junta "without sacrificing the issue of human rights".

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he discussed the matter with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr who is in Kuala Lumpur for bilateral meetings.

Malaysia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have previously rejected any engagement with the junta, though Thailand this year hosted an informal meeting with Myanmar citing a need to maintain dialogue.

"We did touch on Myanmar to strengthen the five-point consensus of ASEAN but also give some flexibility...for neighbouring countries to engage on an informal basis without sacrificing the issue of human rights, and the treatment of minorities, particularly the Rohingya," Anwar said in a joint press conference with Marcos.

The Philippines' president did not comment on Myanmar.

ASEAN, which includes Myanmar among its 10 members, has pushed, without success, for the implementation of a five-point peace plan agreed with the junta shortly after a coup in early 2021.

Malaysia has been a vocal critic of the junta. Earlier this month, it urged ASEAN to strongly condemn the junta's actions, including violence. (Reuters)

The EU rights watchdog on Wednesday announced a probe into Europe's deadliest shipwreck in years and whether the bloc's Frontex border agency fulfilled its rescue duties when the boat sank off Greece last month killing hundreds of migrants.

European Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly said her office would review Frontex's internal rules, cooperation with Greek authorities and reports drawn up after the disaster, saying the deaths required close scrutiny.

"My office will focus on the role of Frontex as we try to piece together the events that led to the capsizing of the boat and the deaths of at least 500 people," she said in announcing the inquiry into the sinking of the Adriana boat on June 14.

"Migration to Europe will continue and it is up to the EU to ensure that it acts in a way that maintains fundamental rights and does not lose sight of the human suffering."

Survivors recounted the Greek coastguard's doomed attempt to tow the overloaded trawler. Islamabad said the boat was carrying over 700 people, including at least 350 Pakistanis. The Greek coastguard rescued 104 people but hundreds drowned in one of Europe's deadliest shipwrecks in recent years.

Frontex said it would cooperate with the probe. "Frontex sees the rescue of lives at sea as one of its essential roles and provides all the necessary support to national authorities when needed," it said in a statement.

The 27-nation EU has turned increasingly restrictive on irregular immigration from the Middle East and Africa since more than a million people - mostly fleeing the war in Syria - arrived across the Mediterranean in 2015.

Frontex received more money and powers as the bloc pushed to cut the sudden increase in sea arrivals of people fleeing wars and poverty in less well-off parts of the world. Climate change is also seen as increasingly driving global migration.

Irregular immigration all but stopped amid the COVID pandemic. Fewer than 160,000 people made it across the sea last year, according to U.N. data. More than 2,400 died along the way.

The issue remains highly sensitive across the bloc, especially ahead of a pan-EU election next June, with governments in countries including Italy, the Netherlands and Poland loudly calling for policies to keep people away.

O'Reilly also said she would look into a recent EU deal with Tunisia to stem migration to Europe. (Reuters)

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Wednesday he will step down and hand over power to his son next month, ending a near four-decade reign during which he established stability after years of war but stifled democracy in the process.

One of the world's longest ruling leaders, Hun Sen made the announcement days after his Cambodian People's Party (CPP) won 120 of 125 parliamentary seats in a general election from which all serious opponents were banished.

"I met the king, and declared I won't continue the position as prime minister anymore," Hun Sen said in a nationally televised address.

"I must sacrifice and relinquish power."

Hun Sen, 70, said his son, Hun Manet, would get royal approval as prime minister on Aug. 10 and be sworn in on Aug. 22.

"Hun Manet ... will become the prime minister in the coming weeks," he said.

Hun Sen said it was time to make way for a younger generation of leaders.

"It is very necessary to have a new cabinet which comprises mostly young people ... they are responsible for the future," he said.

"Long-term peace and development will be continued under my son."

But Hun Sen will not disappear into retirement. He said he would be staying on as head of the ruling party and a member of the National Assembly. He recently said he would step back in to the prime minister's job if his son did not perform well.

CLOSER TO CHINA

Opposition politicians, most of them in self-exile, and rights groups say Hun Sen has for years suppressed democratic institutions while party colleagues and relatives have benefited from a range of business concessions.

The government has rejected accusations of corruption within its ranks levelled over the years by opposition politicians, rights groups and environmental activists.

In 1993, Hun Sen rejected the result of a landmark election organised by the United Nations aimed at ending a conflict that had endured since Cambodia was dragged into the Vietnam war in the late 1960s.

He entered an uneasy coalition with his royalist rivals only to oust them in a bloody takeover in 1997.

A former mid-level commander of the communist Khmer Rouge, Hun Sen responded to attempts by the United States and other Western powers to press him to support democracy by moving closer to China.

"It is concerning that Cambodia has witnessed a constant shrinkage of democratic space in recent years, undermining fundamental freedoms and the right to participate in public affairs,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement on Wednesday.

But Hun Sen is also credited with establishing peace and lifting Cambodia to middle-income status, improving health, education and infrastructure during his 38 years in power.

Western-educated Hun Manet, who is deputy commander-in-chief of the armed forces, has said little of his vision for the country. He won a seat in the capital, Phnom Penh, in Sunday's election.

The new parliament will convene on Aug. 21 and the new prime minister and cabinet would be sworn in on Aug. 22, Hun Sen said.

Critics denounced Sunday's election as a sham after the government disqualified the sole opposition party on a technicality and threatened to penalise anyone calling for a boycott.

The CPP won the last election, in 2018, after an earlier incarnation of the same opposition party was disbanded by the Supreme Court. (Reuters)