Human Rights Issues In Asia

It appears that human rights in Asia have improved, but there is still a long way to go. Recently, the Philippines handed over the chairmanship of the ASEAN Intercontinental Commission to Singapore, and its representative pledged to take an active role in protecting human rights within the Southeast Asian region. This sort of commitment to improving human rights is needed across the whole continent, and then perhaps children, homosexuals, lesbians, transgender people and those with disabilities will all be treated as equals to everyone else.

Human Rights For The Disabled In Asia

It is said that millions of Asian people live with a disability and that they might suffer poverty, discrimination, violence, sexual abuse, exclusion, institutionalisation, and that sometimes they are forcibly sterilised.

These are the same abuses of human rights that children and gay people suffer from, and a large part of the problem is down to the communities they have been brought up in and the beliefs some of the towns and villages hold. The sad thing is that many of these victims know no different, as their lives have always been spent in areas where anyone that is not seen as normal is treated this way.

A study from SOAS University in London shows that the more democratic a country is, the better their human rights record seems to be, which could factor into the state of human rights in different areas of Asia. Large parts of Asia for example, are governed by Communist parties or dictatorships, but the role of democracy in the region’s geopolitics seems to be gaining ground.

The Future Of Human Rights In Asia

There is a wide range of factors affecting human rights in Asia. Some areas have long-standing conflicts still happening and other states that are now out of a conflict situation are constrained by insecurity and political uncertainty. There are parts of Asia that are undergoing the democratic process, but some of these have been delayed because of intervention by military rule.

These problems all contribute towards poverty, gender inequality, and patterns of discrimination. Some of the wars have caused large-scale migration, which can create its own protection challenges. Many Asian countries have well-established legal frameworks with regard to human rights, but implementing the laws in these situations can be almost impossible.

The Development Of Human Rights In Asia

Asian countries are at an important point stage in the development of national and regional human rights infrastructure and mechanisms, with many of them having opened human rights institutions. Other areas are also in the process of opening their own human rights institutions, some of them with help from various human rights commissions that operate in Asia. More importantly, for a continent without its own human rights arrangements, The Asia-Pacific Forum of National Human Rights, which is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Pacific Islands Forum, have started looking at the possibility of implementing sub-regional frameworks to ensure that all people are treated equally. This has to be a step in the right direction for human rights in Asia. The future is looking brighter already.