ASEAN agrees on peaceful resolution to Thailand-Cambodia border conflict

JAKARTA, Indonesia—The Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders unanimously agreed that the ongoing border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia be peacefully resolved in the spirit of ASEAN solidarity.

In his speech bringing to a close the 18th ASEAN Summit held here Sunday, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, this year’s chair, said that Indonesia would provide a “facilitator” to assist in ending the border row between the two countries.

“On the border issue between Cambodia and Thailand, our Summit has reinforced the message that this issue must be resolved by peaceful means and that ASEAN, through its Chair, has a key facilitative role (to play),” Yudhoyono said.

President Benigno Aquino III and fellow ASEAN leaders agreed to adopt three joint statements during the summit.

These include one on ASEAN community in a global community of nations, one on enhancing cooperation against trafficking in persons, and one on the establishment of an ASEAN institute for peace and reconciliation.

“We agree that by 2022, ASEAN will have a coordinated and coherent ASEAN position on global issues of common interest,” read one of the ASEAN leaders’ agreements contained in the statement on ASEAN community.

In the statement on the cooperation against trafficking in persons in southeast Asia, the leaders agreed to strengthen further regional and international cooperation to prevent and combat trafficking in persons; to further enhance the work of law enforcement agencies on trafficking; promote a victim-centered approach by distinguishing victims from the perpetrators; to have victims treated humanely; and to task ministers in charge of transnational crimes to accelerate the consideration of an Asean convention on trafficking in persons.

The initiatives against trafficking of persons was one of the priorities that President Aquino pushed for during the summit.