Approaching the rohingya crisis: Calling for a security governance framework

The Rohingya, an ethno-religious minority community, have been subjected to systematic state persecution in Myanmar. Due to draconian state policies, either they languish in prisonlike villages or fleeing persecution seek refuge in other Asian countries. There is however a lack of effective governance strategies to address this issue—a reality attributable to several factors including the lack of democratic culture in Myanmar, piecemeal refugee policies in neighbouring countries and the lukewarm response of the international community. Such collective failure could escalate violence against this community and breed extremism, endangering the broader security of the Asia-Pacifi c region. Therefore, a collaborative governance framework is warranted and this paper suggests an alternative multilevel security framework to avoid these pitfalls. The approach involves the coordination, management and regulation of issues by multiple authorities through formal and informal arrangements purposefully directed towards particular policy outcomes.