[previous] [next] [Table of Contents]
HUMAN RIGHTS
Human Rights in the Asia Pacific Region
The Asian Students Association (ASA), which is a regional organization based in Hong Kong whose membership is comprised of National Unions of Students in the region, summarized well the human rights issues facing the region through its human rights program.
ASA's Human Rights and Education Program states the following:
Asia and the Pacific is the richest region in the world both in human and natural resources. But untold millions wallow in hunger, despair, pain and misery.
While most governments in the region are signatories of covenants and declarations affirming human rights, the most brutal, systematic and pervasive transgression of human rights prevails.
For every breath we take, a child in Asia-Pacific stops breathing due to hunger and disease-related causes. And for those who are fortunate enough to survive, they face life growing up in bondage, working under slave conditions - exploited by adults.
While ethnic strife rips apart the fabric of Asian societies, indigenous peoples of Asia-Pacific are struggling against the encroachment and occupation of their land by people who espouse an alien and destructive culture. Theirs is a struggle against the decimation of their livelihood, environment, culture and race.
Women in many parts of the region are still regarded as nothing more than chattels. They are being discriminated against in every facet of our patriarchal society. Thousands are sold into prostitution in countries where sex tourism is widespread.
For the youth and students who protest against such stark injustices and oppression, they become targets of repression themselves. Many are arrested, detained, tortured or murdered for their actions in support of the poor and the exploited.
This inhuman situation is neither pre-destined, inevitable or irreparable.