Kestabilan, sekuriti maritim diberi perhatian

Oleh Sim Y. H. dan Yusrin Junaidi

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, 25 April - Sidang Kemuncak ASEAN ke-22 menekankan pentingnya untuk mengekalkan keamanan, kestabilan dan sekuriti maritim di rantau Asia Tenggara ketika membincangkan mengenai isu permasalahan Laut China Selatan.

Para pemimpin turut menekankan pentingnya untuk mematuhi Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), Six-Point Principles on the South China Sea-ASEAN serta kenyataan bersama bagi ulang tahun DOC ke-10.

Dalam hubungan itu juga, para pemimpin ASEAN juga menekankan bagi komitmen bersama di bawah DOC berkenaan untuk memastikan bahawa resolusi secara aman bagi pertelingkahan mengikut prinsip undang-undang antarabangsa yang diiktiraf bersama termasuk Konvensyen Pertubuhan Bangsa-bangsa Bersatu Mengenai Undang-undang Laut 1982 (1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), tanpa perlu untuk menggunakan ancaman atau kekuatan tetapi untuk mengambil sikap menahan diri dalam menyelesaikan masalah atau pertelingkahan.

Dalam hubungan ini, para pemimpin ASEAN mengalu-alukan perbincangan berterusan dengan China dalam pelaksanaan DOC berkenaan secara menyeluruh dan efektif termasuk menerusi kegiatan-kegiatan kerjasama dan projek-projek yang dipersetujui.

Pada masa yang sama, para pemimpin ASEAN turut menugaskan menteri-menteri yang berkenaan untuk bekerja secara aktif dengan China untuk mencapai penyelesaian awal bagi sebuah Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) berdasarkan kepada persetujuan bersama.

Menyentuh situasi di Timur Tengah, para pemimpin ASEAN menekankan lagi sokongan bagi hak yang sah, rakyat Palestin bagi menubuhkan sebuah negara Palestin yang merdeka dan bagi penyelesaian dua negara dimana kedua buah negara dan rakyat masing-masing dalam hidup bersama-sama dengan aman.

Para pemimpin menyeru bagi semua pihak yang berkenaan untuk berusaha bagi menghidupkan semula perbincangan keamanan dan untuk memindahkan semua rintangan kepada usaha itu khususnya pembinaan penempatan haram di kawasan-kawasan Palestin yang ditakluki.

Mengulas mengenai perkembangan di Semenanjung Korea, para pemimpin ASEAN menyatakan kebimbangan dengan perkembangan terkini di kawasan berkenaan. Pada masa yang sama, para pemimpin amat mengalu-alukan usaha Republik Demokratik Rakyat Korea untuk mematuhi sepenuhnya dengan ketetapan di bawah Resolusi Majlis Keselamatan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu dan komitmen di bawah Kenyataan Bersama Perbincangan Enam Pihak.

Para pemimpin ASEAN menekankan lagi sokongan terhadap usaha untuk membawa kepada proses pelupusan nuklear (denuclearisation) Semenanjung Korea secara aman serta usaha untuk menghidupkan semula perbincangan Enam Pihak.

Para pemimpin ASEAN turut menekankan pentingnya bagi dialog untuk mempromosikan kefahaman bersama dan keyakinan di antara semua pihak yang berkenaan untuk memastikan keamanan, keselamatan dan kestabilan di Semenanjung Korea.

Para pemimpin ASEAN juga menyatakan kepentingan bagi Pengerusi ASEAN untuk menyertai Sidang Kemuncak G20 dan sehubungan itu amat mengalu-alukan jemputan Rusia bagi menyertai Sidang Kemuncak G20 di St Petersburg pada September nanti.

Dalam hubungan itu, para pemimpin ASEAN telah menugaskan pegawai-pegawainya untuk merangka Kertas mengenai kedudukan ASEAN bagi Sidang Kemuncak G20 yang mencerminkan visi ASEAN dalam agenda G20 termasuk isu-isu serantau dan global.

Mengenai Kerjasama Ekonomi Asia Pasifik (APEC), pemimpin-pemimpin ASEAN yang bersidang terus menekankan peranan penting APEC dalam rantau Asia Pasifik khususnya dalam mempromosikan Bogor Goals bagi pelaburan dan perdagangan bebas serta terbuka, mengukuhkan pembangunan kapasiti serta pembangunan sekuriti manusia di rantau Asia Pasifik.

Dalam hubungan itu, para pemimpin menyokong sepenuhnya Indonesia selaku Pengerusi APEC 2013 dalam mengambil peranan utama kearah mencapai matlamat-matlamat berkenaan menerusi tiga bidang keutamaan iaitu bagi mencapai Bogor Goals, mencapai pembangunan mampan secara saksama dan mempromosikan kesalinghubungan.

Dipetik dari - Media Permata

Setuju realisasikan Komuniti ASEAN

Oleh Sim Y. H. & Yusrin Junaidi

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, 25 April - Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam, Pengerusi ASEAN 2013, hari ini bertitah menyatakan bahawa pemimpin-pemimpin ASEAN yang bersidang sebulat suara bersetuju untuk meningkatkan lagi usaha ke arah merealisasikan satu Komuniti ASEAN yang bersatu dan berintegrasi dari segi politik, ekonomi dan sosial, supaya dapat meraih peluang yang ada dan yang akan datang serta mampu untuk bertindak balas terhadap cabaran-cabaran serantau dan antarabangsa.

Pada masa yang sama, pemimpin-pemimpin yang bersidang mengulangi komitmen mereka dalam mengurangkan jurang perbezaan pembangunan dengan melaksanakan Pelan Kerja IAI ke-2 (2009-2015) serta Peta Jalan ASEAN ke arah merealisasikan Matlamat Pembangunan Milenium (MDGs) dengan tumpuan khusus kepada matlamat-matlamat yang boleh dicapai dan keutamaan serta senario-senario yang mungkin berlaku selepas 2015.

Baginda Sultan bertitah demikian ketika berkenan berangkat ke Majlis Sidang Media yang berlangsung selepas Sidang Kemuncak ASEAN ke-22 berlangsung di Bangunan Jabatan Perdana Menteri, hari ini.

Sementara itu, dalam Kenyataan Bersama yang dikeluarkan di akhir Sidang Kemuncak ASEAN ke-22 di sini, pemimpin-pemimpin yang bersidang juga mengambil maklum mengenai pentingnya usaha pelbagai organ ASEAN dalam membantu negara-negara anggota ASEAN untuk melaksanakan sepenuhnya komitmen ke arah merealisasikan Komuniti ASEAN, dan untuk mempersiapkan ASEAN bagi menghadapi cabaran masa depan.

Sehubungan itu, para pemimpin mengambil maklum mengenai penubuhan Pasukan Bertindak Peringkat Tinggi untuk mereviu dan membuat cadangan mengenai cara-cara bagi mengukuhkan lagi kesemua organ ASEAN berkenaan.

Para pemimpin juga mengambil maklum bahawa ASEAN akan berhadapan dengan situasi geopolitik yang semakin sukar dan oleh itu, para pemimpin menugaskan Majlis Penyelarasan ASEAN (ACC) untuk mereviu proses dan institusi-institusi ASEAN supaya dapat mempertahankan peranan ASEAN dalam arkitektur serantau serta untuk menyediakan cadangan-cadangan menjelang Sidang Kemuncak ASEAN ke-23.

Para pemimpin juga menyatakan bahawa mereka memahami bahawa tarikh sasaran bagi merealisasikan sebuah Komuniti ASEAN semakin hampir dan oleh itu, perlu untuk melaksanakan usaha integrasi ASEAN seterusnya dan pada masa yang sama, untuk mencari kaedah terbaik bagi meletakkan ASEAN secara strategik di dalam arkitektur serantau yang terus berubah.

Para pemimpin menugaskan Majlis-majlis Komuniti ASEAN untuk memulakan kerja bagi visi selepas 2015 dan para pemimpin amat berminat untuk membincangkan perkara-perkara berhubungan isu berkenaan di Sidang Kemuncak ASEAN ke-23.

Menyentuh bidang Komuniti Politik-Sekuriti ASEAN, kenyataan berkenaan menjelaskan bahawa para pemimpin yang bersidang menekankan perlunya untuk mempromosikan ketelusan, kepercayaan dan kefahaman mengenai dasar-dasar pertahanan serantau serta persepsi sekuriti dalam kalangan negara-negara anggota ASEAN serta rakan-rakan serantau.

Sehubungan itu, para pemimpin amat mengalu-alukan penerbitan ASEAN Security Outlook (ASO) pada 2013 serta pelancaran penerbitan memperingati Forum Serantau ASEAN (ARF) ke-20.

Para pemimpin yang bersidang juga menekankan lagi Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) sebagi kunci tata kelakuan dalam menangani hubungan antara negara di rantau ASEAN serta menjadi asas bagi mengekalkan keamanan dan kestabilan serantau.

Dalam hubungan itu juga, para pemimpin yang bersidang turut mengalu-alukan kemasukan Norway ke dalam TAC pada Jun 2013.

Dalam kenyataan berkenaan juga, para pemimpin ASEAN yang bersidang juga mengalu-alukan komitmen dan tanggungjawab bersama menteri-menteri pertahanan dan angkatan-angkatan tentera ASEAN dalam usaha untuk meningkatkan lagi keamanan dan sekuriti serantau termasuk pergerakan ke arah lima bidang utama dalam proses Mesyuarat Menteri-menteri Pertahanan ASEAN-Plus (ADMM-Plus).

Para pemimpin juga amat mengalu-alukan penganjuran Eksais ADMM-Plus HADR & MM Ex yang akan berlangsung di Negara Brunei Darussalam pada 17 hingga 20 Jun nanti di mana ia memberikan sumbangan signifikan ke arah kerjasama di kalangan negara-negara ADMM-Plus dalam usaha untuk membangun kapasiti dan keyakinan serantau dalam menangani isu-isu atau cabaran sekuriti bukan tradisional khususnya pengurusan bencana.

Pada masa yang sama, para pemimpin turut mengalu-alukan penyertaan pelbagai sektor dan penyelarasan pelbagai sektor termasuk lebih banyak penyelarasan tentera-awam dalam operasi respons kecemasan.

Para pemimpin turut mengalu-alukan kewujudan pelbagai mekanisme yang berhubungan dengan pengurusan bencana dalam ASEAN untuk menyelaraskan kegiatan dan dasar-dasar menerusi Perjanjian ASEAN bagi Pengurusan Bencana dan Respons Kecemasan (AADMER) selaku platform bersama bagi pengurusan bencana.

Para pemimpin dalam kenyataan berkenaan juga menekankan komitmen untuk mengekalkan Asia Tenggara sebagai zon bebas senjata nuklear dan bebas dari semua jenis senjata pemusnah besar dan dalam hubungan itu amat mengalu-alukan penandatanganan, Protocol to the Treaty on Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) dan dokumen-dokumen yang berkenaan tanpa sebarang halangan secepat mungkin.

Pada masa yang sama, para pemimpin juga mengalu-alukan penyambungan Pelan Tindakan bagi mengukuhkan Pelaksanaan perjanjian SEANWFZ bagi tempoh lima tahun lagi iaitu dari 2013 hingga 2017.

Para pemimpin yang bersidang juga menyatakan komitmen dalam menangani isu-isu keganasan dan jenayah merentas sempadan di rantau Asia Tenggara dan dalam hubungan itu, menyarankan supaya badan-badan sektoral yang berkenaan untuk menggandakan kerja-kerja mereka dalam melaksanakan pelan kerja dan program kerja yang berkaitan dengan bidang-bidang utama jenayah merentas sempadan serta untuk menangani secara efektif ancaman sekuriti bukan tradisional yang semakin meningkat di rantau Asia Tenggara.

Para pemimpin juga mengambil maklum mengenai perkembangan yang dibuat dalam Pelan Serantau bagi Tindakan Bagi Membanteras Penyeludupan Manusia (RPA) dan Konvensyen ASEAN terhadap Penyeludupan Manusia (ACTIP) yang mencerminkan perlunya untuk membanteras kegiatan pemerdagangan dan penyeludupan manusia di rantau Asia Tenggara.

Sekuriti maritim juga diberikan tumpuan di mana para pemimpin yang bersidang menyatakan keselamatan maritim adalah amat penting bagi membangunkan Asia Tenggara yang aman, stabil dan berdaya tahan yang mana dalam hubungan itu, usaha untuk mengukuhkan kerjasama serantau dalam bidang keselamatan maritim amat dialu-alukan, menerusi pembangunan kapasiti, pertukaran pengalaman dan perkongsian amalan terbaik dengan menggunakan rangka kerja ASEAN yang sedia ada termasuk Forum Maritim ASEAN (AMF).

Para pemimpin juga mengalu-alukan Deklarasi Hak Manusia ASEAN (AHRD) sebagai mercu tanda penting dalam usaha ASEAN untuk mempromosi dan melindungi hak manusia di rantau ASEAN dan untuk menggalakkan ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) untuk meningkatkan lagi kegiatannya termasuk dalam pelaksanaan AHRD dengan penyelarasan bersama pelbagai badan-badan sektoral ASEAN.

Dipetik dari - Media Permata

Burma: End ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ of Rohingya Muslims

Unpunished Crimes Against Humanity, Humanitarian Crisis in Arakan State

(Bangkok) – Burmese authorities and members of Arakanese groups have committed crimes against humanity in a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Rohingya Muslims in Arakan State since June 2012, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.

The 153-page report, “‘All You Can Do is Pray’: Crimes Against Humanity and Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Burma’s Arakan State,” describes the role of the Burmese government and local authorities in the forcible displacement of more than 125,000 Rohingya and other Muslims and the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Burmese officials, community leaders, and Buddhist monks organized and encouraged ethnic Arakanese backed by state security forces to conduct coordinated attacks on Muslim neighborhoods and villages in October 2012 to terrorize and forcibly relocate the population. The tens of thousands of displaced have been denied access to humanitarian aid and been unable to return home.

“The Burmese government engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya that continues today through the denial of aid and restrictions on movement,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director. “The government needs to put an immediate stop to the abuses and hold the perpetrators accountable or it will be responsible for further violence against ethnic and religious minorities in the country.”

Following sectarian violence between Arakanese and Rohingya in June 2012, government authorities destroyed mosques, conducted violent mass arrests, and blocked aid to displacedMuslims. On October 23, after months of meetings and public statements promoting ethnic cleansing, Arakanese mobs attacked Muslim communities in nine townships, razing villages and killing residents while security forces stood aside or assisted the assailants. Some of the dead were buried in mass graves, further impeding accountability.

Human Rights Watch traveled to Arakan State following the waves of violence and abuses in June and October, visiting sites of attacks and every major displaced person camp, as well as unofficial displacement sites. The report draws on more than 100 interviews with Rohingya and non-Rohingya Muslims and Arakanese who suffered or witnessed abuses, as well as some organizers and perpetrators of the violence.

All of the state security forces operating in Arakan State are implicated in failing to prevent atrocities or directly participating in them, including local police, Lon Thein riot police, the inter-agency border control force called Nasaka, and the army and navy. One soldier told a Muslim man who was pleading for protection as his village was being burned: “The only thing you can do is pray to save your lives.”

Displaced Rohingya told Human Rights Watch how in October security forces stood by or joined with large groups of Arakanese men armed with machetes, swords, homemade guns, and Molotov cocktails who descended upon and attacked their villages. In some cases, attacks occurred simultaneously in townships separated by considerable distance.

Satellite images obtained by Human Rights Watch from just 5 of the 13 townships that experienced violence since June show 27 unique zones of destruction, including the destruction of 4,862 structures covering 348 acres of mostly Muslim-owned residential property.

In the deadliest incident, on October 23, at least 70 Rohingya were killed in a daylong massacre in Yan Thei village in Mrauk-U Township. Despite advance warning of the attack, only a small number of riot police, local police, and army soldiers were on duty to provide security, but they assisted the killings by disarming the Rohingya of their sticks and other rudimentary weapons they carried to defend themselves. Included in the death toll were 28 children who were hacked to death, including 13 under age 5. “First the soldiers told us, ‘Do not do anything, we will protect you, we will save you,’ so we trusted them,” a 25-year-old survivor told Human Rights Watch. “But later they broke that promise. The Arakanese beat and killed us very easily. The security did not protect us from them.”

“In October, security forces either looked the other way as Arakanese mobs attacked Muslim settlements or joined in the bloodletting and arson,” Robertson said. “Six months later, the government still blames ‘communal violence’ for the deaths and destruction when, in truth, the government knew what was happening and could have stopped it.”

Considerable local organizing preceded and backed October’s attacks. The two groups most influential in organizing anti-Rohingya activities were the local order of Buddhist monks (the sangha) and the regionally powerful Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP), which was founded in 2010 by Arakanese nationalists. Between June and October, these groups and others issued numerous anti-Rohingya pamphlets and public statements, explicitly or implicitly denying the existence of the Rohingya ethnicity, demonizing them, and calling for their removal from the country, at times using the phrase “ethnic cleansing.” The statements frequently were released in connection with organized meetings and in full view of local, state, and national authorities who raised no concerns. Local authorities, politicians, and monks also acted, often through public statements and force, to deny Muslims their rights to freedom of movement, opportunities to earn a living, and access to markets and to humanitarian aid. The apparent goal has been to coerce them to abandon their homes and leave the area.

“Local officials and community leaders engaged in an organized effort to demonize and isolate the Muslim population as a prelude to murderous mob attacks,” Robertson said. “Moreover, since the bloodshed, the central government has taken no action to punish those responsible or reverse the ethnic cleansing of the forcibly displaced Muslims.”

Human Rights Watch uncovered evidence of four mass-grave sites in Arakan State – three dating from the immediate aftermath of the June violence and one from the October violence. Security forces actively impeded accountability and justice by digging mass graves to destroy evidence of crimes.

For instance, on June 13, a government truck dumped 18 naked and half-clothed bodies near a Rohingya displaced person camp outside of Sittwe, the state capital. Some of the victims had been “hogtied” with string or plastic strips before being executed. By leaving the bodies near a camp for displaced Rohingya, the soldiers were sending a message – consistent with a policy of ethnic cleansing – that the Rohingya should leave permanently.

“They dropped the bodies right here,” said a Rohingya man, who saw the bodies being dumped. “Three bodies had gunshot wounds. Some had burns, some had stab wounds. One gunshot wound was on the forehead, one on the chest.”

Arakan State faces a major humanitarian crisis brought on by the Burmese government’s systematic restrictions on humanitarian aid to displaced Rohingya.

More than 125,000 Rohingya and non-Rohingya Muslims, and a smaller number of Arakanese, have been in displaced person camps in Arakan State since June. While President Thein Sein’s government has hosted high-profile diplomatic visits to displacement sites, it has also obstructed the effective delivery of humanitarian aid. Many of the displaced Muslims have been living in overcrowded camps that lack adequate food, shelter, water and sanitation, schools, and medical care. Security forces in some areas have provided protection to displaced Muslims, but more typically they have acted as their jailers, preventing access to markets, livelihoods, and humanitarian assistance, for which many are in desperate need.

Tens of thousands of Rohingya face a range of deadly waterborne diseases if they are not moved to higher ground before the rainy season begins in May.

“The problem with aid delivery in Arakan State is not a failure of coordination, but a failure of leadership by the government to allow displaced Muslims access to aid and freedom of movement,” Robertson said. “An entirely predictable and preventable humanitarian crisis is just weeks away when the rains fall and camps flood, spreading waterborne diseases.”

The displaced Rohingya have not been consulted on their right to return to their original towns and villages, heightening concerns of a long-term intent to segregate the population.

Lacking aid, protection, and facing violence and abuses, tens of thousands of Rohingya have fled the country by sea since June with hopes of reaching Bangladesh, Malaysia, or Thailand, and many thousands more appear ready to do the same – several hundred people have already died at sea.

Under international law, crimes against humanity are crimes committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack by a government or organization on a civilian population. Among the crimes against humanity committed against the Rohingya since June were murder, deportation and forcible transfer of the population, and persecution.

“Ethnic cleansing,” though not a formal legal term, has been defined as a purposeful policy by an ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.

Central to the persecution of the Rohingya is the 1982 Citizenship Law, which effectively denies Burmese citizenship to Rohingya on discriminatory ethnic grounds. Because the law does not consider the Rohingya to be one of the eight recognized “national races,” which would entitle them to full citizenship, they must provide “conclusive evidence” that their ancestors settled in Burma before independence in 1948, a difficult if not impossible task for most Rohingya families.

The government and Burmese society openly consider the Rohingya to be illegal immigrants from what is now Bangladesh and not a distinct “national race” of Burma, denying them consideration for full citizenship. Official government statements refer to them as “Bengali,” “so-called Rohingya,” or the pejorative “kalar.”

Human Rights Watch urged the Burmese government to urgently amend the 1982 Citizenship Act to eliminate discriminatory provisions and to ensure that Rohingya children have the right to acquire a nationality where otherwise they would be stateless.

“Burma should accept an independent international commission to investigate crimes against humanity in Arakan State, locate victims, and provide redress,” said Robertson. “Burma’s donors need to wake up and realize the seriousness of the Rohingya’s plight, and demand that the government urgently stop abuses, promote the safe return of displaced Muslims, and ensure accountability to end the deadly cycle of violence in Arakan State.”

Dipetik dari - Human Rights Watch

Golongan belia paksi kepada pembangunan berdaya tahan

PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA, Jumaat, 19 April. - Dalam keadaan hubungan dunia yang saling berkaitan, Negara Brunei Darussalam melihat golongan belia adalah sebahagian daripada penyumbang kepada penyelesaian isu-isu yang dihadapi.

Kepentingan belia itu turut disentuh oleh Menteri Kebudayaan, Belia dan Sukan, Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Laila Diraja Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Hazair bin Haji Abdullah pada Mesyuarat Menteri-Menteri Belia Komanwel Kali Ke-8 yang bermula 16 April lepas dan berakhir hari ini.

Perasmian mesyuarat disempurnakan oleh Perdana Menteri Papua New Guinea, Yang Amat Berhormat Peter O’Neil. Majlis turut dihadiri oleh Menteri-Menteri Belia dan ketua-ketua rombongan dari 35 buah negara-negara Komanwel dan juga Setiausaha Agung Sekretariat Komanwel, Tuan Yang Terutama Kamalesh Sharma.

Mesyuarat bertemakan 'Golongan Belia Paksi kepada Pembangunan Berdaya Tahan' dan dipengerusikan oleh Menteri Ugama, Belia dan Pembangunan Masyarakat, Papua New Guinea, Yang Berhormat Loujaya Toni.

Dalam perbincangan mengenai pentingnya peranan pendidikan dan kemahiran dalam menyumbang kepada peluang pekerjaan golongan belia, Yang Berhormat menekankan kepentingan menanamkan nilai-nilai disiplin, komitmen, etika dan sikap kerja yang positif dalam kalangan belia selain pendidikan dan kemahiran.

Yang Berhormat juga mengalu-alukan penumpuan terhadap keusahawanan dan pembangunan perusahaan golongan belia dalam mesyuarat kali ini dan seterusnya berharap akan mendapat bantuan teknikal daripada pihak Sekretariat Komanwel dalam perlaksanaan pembangunan keusahawanan dan perusahaan belia di Negara Brunei Darussalam.

Menyentuh mengenai tema mesyuarat, Yang Berhormat berkata tema tersebut selaras dengan keutamaan yang diberikan kepada peranan belia dalam pembangunan di Negara Brunei Darussalam.

Sehubungan dengan ini, Yang Berhormat turut memetik titah Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam yang berkaitan dengan tema mesyuarat yang berbunyi “Golongan muda atau golongan belia itu mempunyai nilainya yang tersendiri untuk diambil manfaat oleh bangsa dan negara.”

Belia adalah aset negara. Kerana itu, agenda pembinaan belia adalah amat penting untuk diberi fokus. Mereka yang dibangun itu akan menjadi cermin kepada corak kepimpinan masa depan yang penuh dengan teka-teki.

Jika mereka baik, maka kita pun bolehlah tersenyum lega, tetapi jika mereka menjadi insan yang cair moral, maka akan merintihlah negara memikul bebannya.”

Seterusnya dalam menyentuh mengenai saranan bagi keutamaan peruntukan diberikan untuk pembangunan belia, Yang Berhormat memaklumkan bahawa bertepatan sekali dengan saranan tersebut, tema bagi tahun kewangan 2013/2014 di Negara Brunei Darussalam adalah 'Belia Berwawasan, Pemangkin Pembangunan Yang Berdaya Tahan'.

Oleh itu, peruntukan yang besar telah disediakan bagi projek-projek yang berbentuk menyeluruh (holistic) untuk pembangunan kapasiti belia-belia Negara Brunei Darussalam melalui pelbagai program pendidikan, kemahiran dan pembangunan belia.

Yang Berhormat juga menjelaskan mengenai pendekatan 'Oleh Belia, Untuk Belia' yang diguna pakai dalam perlaksanaan program-program dan penyediaan kemudahan-kemudahan untuk golongan belia. Ini dilaksanakan melalui dialog bersama belia bagi mendapatkan maklum balas dan mengongsikan pandangan terhadap isu-isu yang merupakan kepentingan belia dan membincangkan sumbangan yang dapat mereka berikan untuk pembangunan negara.

Melalui dialog-dialog belia tersebut jelas Yang Berhormat, ianya memberikan peluang interaksi kepada belia-belia untuk mengambil tanggungjawab yang besar dan komitmen bagi memikirkan masa depan mereka dan meningkatkan kapasiti dan daya saing mereka.

Ini tegas Yang Berhormat, diharapkan akan dapat menanamkan harga dan maruah diri, matlamat hidup untuk menyumbang kepada pembaikan diri mereka, keluarga, masyarakat, negara dan juga kepada pembangunan serantau dan antarabangsa.

Semasa mesyuarat ini, Menteri-Menteri Belia Komanwel juga membincangkan mengenai penubuhan Majlis Belia Komanwel dan Indeks Pembangunan Belia Komanwel yang mana merupakan antara perkara-perkara yang telah dipersetujui semasa Mesyuarat Ketua-Ketua Kerajaan Komanwel (CHOGM) tahun 2011.

Semasa menghadiri mesyuarat ini, Yang Berhormat juga sempat mengadakan perbincangan bersama Wakil Khas Belia Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu, Tuan Ahmad Alhendawi yang antaranya membincangkan mengenai hal ehwal pembangunan belia dan peranan belia selaku paksi dalam pembangunan berdaya tahan.

Dipetik dari - Pelita Brunei

NDP Welcomes Delegates for the 22nd ASEAN Summit 2013

Dutch crown prince hints at informal monarchy

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander set the tone Wednesday for what could be a relatively laid-back monarchy, saying in his last major interview before he becomes king that his subjects don't have to address him as your majesty.

The prince's comments, in a pre-recorded television interview, are an indication that he could be an informal monarch more in the style of his grandmother, Queen Juliana — known for her folksy style and riding her bicycle in public — than his more formal mother, Queen Beatrix.

The 45-year-old prince and his Argentine-born wife, Princess Maxima, will become king and queen when Beatrix, abdicates April 30 after 33 years on the throne.

"I'm not a protocol fetishist. People can address me however they want," Willem-Alexander said.

"For me, it is about people feeling at ease when I'm with them."

He also said he has no problem with protests during celebrations in Amsterdam to mark his ascent to the throne. Protests also broke out during his mother's investiture in 1980.

"I'm convinced we are going to have a magnificent investiture day ... in Amsterdam, in which there will be opportunities for protest, and that is as it should be," he said.

Looking relaxed sitting next to Maxima for the nearly hour-long interview, Willem-Alexander touched briefly on a family tragedy that will hang over celebrations surrounding his investiture — his brother Prince Johan Friso has been in a coma for more than a year since being caught in an avalanche while skiing in Austria.

"For the family, it is a very difficult moment," he said.

Also absent on the day will be Maxima's father, Jorge Zorreguieta, who was an agriculture minister in the military junta that ruled Argentina with an iron fist in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

His role in the brutal regime meant he was not invited to Willem-Alexander and Maxima's wedding and he will not be in Amsterdam on April 30 either.

"It was clear that if my father could not come for the wedding then it was very clear: This is a constitutional celebration so my father doesn't belong there," Maxima said.

Willem-Alexander said that after being groomed for years he is now confident he's ready to replace his mother.

He said that while he wants to keep up the tradition of the 200-year-old Dutch monarchy, he also wants to be "a king who in the 21st century can unite, represent and encourage society."

He also said he would consent to any move by lawmakers to make the monarchy purely ceremonial. At the moment, Queen Beatrix still swears in new Cabinet ministers after elections and delivers a speech each year at the opening of parliament, but some lawmakers favor reining in even those limited powers.

"If the lawmaking process is democratic and constitutional, I will accept everything," he said.

Dipetik dari - The Associated Press

Asia warned vs energy dependence

DEVELOPING ASIA should shift its dependence to alternative fuels to sustain its growth path in the next two decades, a senior Asian Development Bank (ADB) official said yesterday.

“If developing Asia is to continue to grow at around 6% and lift millions more out of poverty it needs a massively increased energy supply,” Minsoo Lee, senior economist at the ADB said during the discussions on the lending agency’s updated Asian Development Outlook 2013 at the AIM Conference Center in Makati.

However, Mr. Lee said, while Asia’s energy demand will continue to increase in the next two decades, its energy supply is not enough, even by 2035.

He said that the energy security in developing Asia rests on three pillars: adequacy and reliability of critical energy supply, environmental sustainability, and affordable access.

In terms of adequacy and reliability, he mentioned that Asia’s energy self-sufficiency rate -- a country’s dependence on renewable resources of energy, will be deteriorating due to increasing dependence on fossil fuels, which are non-renewable.

Only three economies in Asia will be self-sufficient by 2035 namely, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Brunei Darussalam. The Philippines’ self-sufficiency rate is projected at less than 20% by 2035, Mr. Lee said.

“In the Philippines, the indigenous reserves of coal and natural gas will likely be depleted by 2035, and the renewable resources usage share will dramatically decrease to 20%, from the current of about 40%,” Mr. Lee said.

“Therefore, the government should think of ways to boost the country’s energy self-sufficiency rate in two decades,” he added.

Mr. Lee mentioned that without radical changes to Asia’s current energy mix by 2035, coal use will increase by 81%, oil consumption will double, [and ] natural gas use will more than triple.

Developing Asia accounted to 79% of the total population dependent on traditional fuels globally.

Developing Asia’s fossil fuels proven reserves of coal was recorded at 26% of the global figure in 2011, conventional gas reserves was at 16%, while technically recoverable oil and natural gas liquids were accounted to 15%.

Mr. Lee said the region’s oil imports will triple to $30 million barrels a day by 2035 from $11 million barrels a day in 2011.

“In 2010, Asia’s oil imports from the Middle East has risen to 48%. As this trend, will likely to continue, Asia’s growing dependence on a single region poses a great risk for adequate reliable energy supply,” he said.

In terms of environmental sustainability, Mr. Lee said the consumption of fossil fuels is likely to spell environmental disaster.

Furthermore, in terms of affordable access to electricity, Mr. Lee said, “Asia is home to most of the world’s energy poor.”

Developing Asia accounted to 50% of the population without access electricity in 2011. “Affordable energy is key to inclusive growth,” Mr. Lee said.

Mr. Lee said that to allow affordable access of electricity to the poor, the government should “replace general subsidies with targeted subsidies.”

Fossil fuel subsidies accounts to 0.7% of the Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011, he said.

He also said governments should introduce tax on greenhouse gas emissions to reduce energy consumption and develop new clean technologies.

He added that energy experts should harness renewable energy supplies such as solar, wind, hydropower and biofuels. Developing Asia’s contribution to the global GDP would increase by 2035, its energy use relative to the rest of the world would also grow.

Developing Asia accounts to 28% of the global GDP in 2010, which is projected to almost double to 44% in 2035.

Dipetik dari - BusinessWorld Online

Brunei, Philippines to boost ties

HM hails Aquino aid for Brunei's ASEAN Chair.

BRUNEI Darussalam and the Philippines have agreed to deepen cooperation in various areas of development to boost bilateral and ASEAN relations.

"As ASEAN Chair for this year, Brunei Darussalam will continue to work closely with the Philippines towards achieving concrete outcomes in economic growth and social progress and in promoting regional peace and stability," His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam said in his titah during a state luncheon hosted by Philippine President Benigno Aquino III at Malacanang Palace yesterday.

His Majesty, who arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Monday, paid a two-day visit to the country that ended yesterday.

His Majesty said he appreciated President Aquino's continued support for Brunei Darussalam's chairing of the regional bloc, and said he looked forward to welcoming the president to the Sultanate for the ASEAN Summit on April 24-25. The monarch also commended President Aquino on the initiatives he had taken to promote peace and reconciliation in the southern Philippines and assured the president that Brunei Darussalam would continue to provide assistance to its peacekeeping efforts.

On the bilateral front, His Majesty said he was very much impressed with the progress and development made by the Philippines since his last visit to the country in 2009.

"Mr president, I am happy to reaffirm the long-standing friendship and cooperation that exists between our two countries," the monarch said, adding that both countries' public and private sectors, as well as their citizens, had established close ties that reflected the quality and strength of the nations' relations.

His Majesty was also pleased to see that both governments were working together in areas such as agriculture, education, defence and more recently, energy.

Brunei Darussalam is happy to be hosting more than 20,000 Philippine citizens, who are making a significant contribution to Brunei Darussalam's development, His Majesty said.

He added that he believed there were many areas where the people of both countries could promote trade and investment.

At the end of his titah, His Majesty extended the people of Brunei Darussalam's best wishes for lasting peace, happiness and prosperity in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, President Aquino in his speech said that as a brother nation in ASEAN, his country was committed to nurturing relations with Brunei and other Southeast Asian states and promoting economic and cultural ties and maritime security. "This is our pledge, to continue working with our neighbours in implementing the commitments of ASEAN member states in the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, and in moving forward with negotiations for the adoption of a Code of Conduct, the president said. Aquino said he was confident that under Brunei Darussalam's chair this year the region would move further along the path to harmony and sustainable development. "I look forward to working with Your Majesty in building a Southeast Asia that is truly an abode of peace for all peoples", the president said.

Dipetik dari - The Brunei Times

Brunei bakal jadi tumpuan dunia perniagaan ASEAN

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, 15 April - Negara Brunei Darussalam akan menjadi tumpuan dunia perniagaan dan perdagangan ASEAN dan serantau apabila menjadi hos kepada Sidang Kemuncak Perniagaan dan Pelaburan ASEAN (ABIS) 2013.

Pengerusi Majlis Penasihat Perniagaan ASEAN (BAC) 2013, Dayang Fauziah binti DSP Haji Talib berkata, sidang kemuncak itu akan memberi penekanan kepada usaha untuk melibatkan penyertaan pemimpin-pemimpin dari perniagaan dan perusahaan, politik, akademik serta industri dalam membincangkan langkah ke arah pembentukan agenda-agenda industri dan serantau.

Menurut beliau, usaha terus dilaksanakan bagi memperkukuhkan asas dan mempercepatkan lagi perkembangan ke arah pembentukan sebuah ekonomi serantau yang bersepadu dengan memberikan tumpuan kepada mengukuhkan lagi perkembangan perdagangan dan integrasi ekonomi serantau, mempromosikan pembangunan syarikat atau perusahaan baru dan menjana pembangunan Perusahaan Mikro, Kecil dan Sederhana secara mampan serta menggalakkan penyertaan golongan belia dan wanita dalam ASEAN BAC.

Beliau menyatakan perkara ini ketika menyampaikan kata alu-aluan di Majlis Pelancaran dan Penandatanganan Perjanjian ABIS 2013 yang berlangsung di Pusat Persidangan Antarabangsa, Berakas, hari ini.

Menurut Dayang Fauziah ASEAN BAC mengenal pasti bahawa perusahaan mikro, kecil dan sederhana (MSME) merupakan enjin pertumbuhan yang penting dalam ASEAN dan golongan belia serta wanita memainkan peranan yang besar dalam sumbangan kepada pembangunan ekonomi ASEAN.

Oleh itu adalah amat penting bagi memberikan tumpuan supaya akan melibatkan penyertaan aktif kumpulan berkenaan kepada usaha untuk membangunkan ekonomi serantau yang bukan sahaja dinamik dan positif tetapi juga terus berkembang secara mampan, katanya.

Mengulas lanjut mengenai MSME ASEAN, Dayang Fauziah berkata bahawa pada masa ini, terdapat lebih daripada 96 peratus PKS di rantau Asia Tenggara dan wanita meliputi di antara 50 hingga 95 peratus daripada jumlah pekerja dalam ASEAN manakala itu, ia menyumbang di antara 30 hingga 53 peratus, jumlah pendapatan dalam negeri kasar bagi negara-negara anggota ASEAN.

"Oleh itu, adalah amat bertepatan bagi tumpuan diberikan kepada inisiatif bagi memperkasakan lagi sektor MSME ASEAN serta mengetengahkan lebih peranan serta penglibatan belia dan wanita di dalam ekonomi ASEAN selaras dengan tema bagi ASEAN BAC, Bersama Maju Ke Hadapan."

Menyentuh sedikit mengenai dengan ramalan mengenai pembangunan ekonomi rantau ASEAN, Dayang Fauziah berkata pakar-pakar ekonomi menyatakan bahawa ASEAN akan terus mencatatkan pertumbuhan yang pesat dan positif yang mana berdasarkan dari unjuran yang dibuat, ASEAN akan mempunyai kadar pendapatan dalam negeri kasar yang lebih besar berbanding Rusia dan Brazil menjelang 2020 serta diunjurkan juga mempunyai kadar GDP kira-kira AS$10 trilion menjelang 2030.

Dari unjuran itu jelas kelihatan bahawa rantau ASEAN mempunyai ekonomi yang kukuh yang disokong dengan keyakinan, perdagangan merentas sempadan, pertumbuhan positif serta pembelanjaan serantau yang dipercayai mempunyai kesan untuk membangunkan lagi sektor swasta yang dinamik.

Mengulas sedikit mengenai matlamat Komuniti Ekonomi ASEAN (AEC), Fauziah berkata matlamat integrasi ekonomi serantau menjelang 2015 atau AEC, dihasratkan untuk mentransformasikan ASEAN menjadi sebuah pasaran dan pangkalan produksi yang kompetitif serta mempunyai pembangunan ekonomi yang saksama.

Usaha itu juga akan membantu untuk mengurangkan kemiskinan dan mengurangkan jurang perbezaan sosio-ekonomi serta yang paling penting, membawa integrasi menyeluruh ke dalam ekonomi global.

Dengan tema Bersama Maju ke Hadapan, ASEAN BAC 2013 menumpukan kepada asas dan mempercepatkan lagi usaha ke arah pembangunan sebuah ekonomi serantau bersepadu menjelang 2015 serta menjadi jambatan penghubung di antara kerajaan-kerajaan ASEAN dengan sektor swasta.

Dipetik dari - Media Permata

Monarchy Is Indispensable Asset to Spain, Government Says

BARCELONA – Spain’s monarchy is “an asset we cannot do without” and an institution that should be treated with “enormous delicacy and affection,” Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said on Monday.

The monarchy “made possible the transition from dictatorship to democracy,” he told reporters, referring to the political process that followed the 1975 death of Francisco Franco.

“I have had the honor of traveling with the king, those trips have translated into very important contracts for Spanish companies, which have generated jobs,” the foreign minister said.

King Juan Carlos “is the most important asset of Brand Spain,” Garcia-Margallo said.

The minister’s comments came a day after several thousand people gathered in Madrid to mark the 82nd anniversary of the founding of Spain’s Second Republic – toppled by Franco in 1939 – and call for a return to republicanism.

The monarchy has found itself at the center of controversy recently as Princess Cristina, the younger daughter of Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, was mentioned as a potential suspect in a corruption case involving her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin.

The time has come to regulate “certain aspects” of the monarchy with the aim of bolstering it as an institution, the secretary-general of Spain’s governing Popular Party said Monday.

Declining to offer any details, the PP’s Maria Dolores de Cospedal said her party sees the royal family’s desire to be included in a new transparency law as a “very important” step.

Dipetik dari - Latin American Herald Tribune