Border re-openings in South East Asia
The COVID-19 Omicron variant is still posing risks to countries around the world despite being proven to be less severe compared to previous variants. Governments around the world, including in South East Asia, are striving to reopen their borders to revive stagnating economies, while enforcing certain measures to protect their citizens.
Cambodia, for instance, has lifted all COVID-19 restrictions in an attempt to attract vaccinated international travelers, including dropping mandatory testing and resuming on-arrival visas. However, non-vaccinated travelers are still required to undergo the 14-days quarantine upon arrival. This policy aims to attract tourists and business investment as the Kingdom sees a low rate of infection and a high vaccination rate.
On 15 March, Vietnam fully opened its borders to all overseas travelers with only a few entry requirements including the pre-departure mandatory testing, travel insurance and visa, and the completion of a health declaration.
Contrastingly, countries such as Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore are still considering the full reopening of their borders with any foreign travel remaining through a Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) or travel bubbles. Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore have been attempting to establish safe travel lanes in hope of reviving their weakened tourist sector. The situation in Laos, however, is becoming more severe as the government may call off Laos’ New Year celebration and other public events due to the rise and spread of the Omicron variant across the country.
Indonesia and the Philippines, on the other hand, are aiming to further relax their border restrictions to attract more tourists. Indonesia is also considering a lift of all quarantine requirements in April for all international visitors while the mandatory pre-departure testing will still be in place. The Philippines reopened its borders to international travelers in February with fully-vaccinated travelers exempted from quarantine. However, proof of the COVID-19 PCR negative test is still mandatory and those who are unvaccinated must undergo quarantine.
Likewise, Myanmar is set to reopen for fully vaccinated international tourists in mid-April with the requirement of one-week quarantine and two PCR tests despite rising COVID-19 cases and ongoing violence.
Brunei, however, chose to remain closed due to the rise of domestic infections in recent weeks. The government is working to reduce the price of the COVID-19 testing kits and to curb the chain of the Omicron variant by imposing curfews and restrictions that would be extended through to the end of March 2022.
Although some ASEAN member states have opened their borders, the majority of the other ASEAN member states are still hesitant to follow suit. More time is needed for the ASEAN member states to reopen their borders and accept international travelers to encourage a post-COVID economic recovery.
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida paid a visit to Cambodia
On 20 March 2022, Japanese Prime Minister (PM) Fumio Kishida paid a visit to Cambodia and met with Prime Minister Hun Sen to strengthen bilateral relations and to promote economic and security cooperation.
On bilateral cooperation, PM Kishida offered his support for the Preah Sihanouk Autonomous Port development, seen as a symbol of strong cooperation between Cambodia and Japan. Bilateral cooperation in trade, education, defense and security, infrastructure, post-COVID-19 recovery, and investment opportunities with Cambodia were also discussed.
In the joint statement following the meeting, both leaders expressed their concerns and condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They encouraged all parties to seek an immediate ceasefire and urged Russia to have a complete military withdrawal from Ukraine. Japan and Cambodia stated that the continuation of violence was not acceptable by any means.
The Japanese Prime Minister also expressed his intention to promote democracy and rule of law in Cambodia. Both leaders also called for the cessation of violence in Myanmar and encouraged all actors to release political detainees and to uphold peaceful dispute resolution.
The issue of the South China Sea was also discussed where both leaders reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and security in the region while also promoting diplomatic dispute settlement in line with international law, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
In response to the meeting, the director-general of the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) viewed the visit as a way to strengthen both countries’ relations while others believed this visit is a means for Japan to counter growing Chinese influence in the region.
Some saw this visit as an opportunity for Cambodia to find a new source of funding to reduce its reliance on China as Japan is one of Cambodia’s top donors.
Prime Minister Kishida’s visit enhanced the relationship between Japan and Cambodia and revealed the fact that Japan views Cambodia as an important partner in the region, especially with Cambodia being the 2022 ASEAN Chair.
ASEAN Chair’s Special Envoy visited Myanmar
As a special envoy of ASEAN, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn visited Myanmar from 20 – 23 March. The visit aimed to revisit the outcomes of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s visit to the country in early January, facilitate the implementation of the 5-points consensus, and deliver humanitarian assistance to the vulnerable in Myanmar.
During the visit, Prak Sokhonn met with General Min Aung Hlaing and three junta ministers: the Minister of Foreign Affair, the Chairman of the Task Force on ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance, and the Chairman of the Peace-making Committee. They discussed the conditions that could end violence, the 5-points consensus implementation, the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and encouraged dialogue for all conflicting parties.
In addition, Prak Sokhonn also met with ASEAN Ambassadors and representatives in Myanmar to exchange views of the situation and discuss ways to enhance the effective implementation of the 5-points consensus that could end violence and ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
However, Prak Sokhonn could not meet with the Ethnic Armed Groups as planned due to the tight schedule. He also did not ask the junta to meet the former democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi as he believed it would result in failure similar to Brunei’s request as the previous ASEAN Chair. Despite this decision, the foreign minister has revealed the future possibility for such a meeting between him and Aung San Suu Kyi.
Some viewed this visit as a failure and a disappointment as the ASEAN Special Envoy could only meet a few actors with minimal progress made as there was no agreement on the humanitarian assistance delivery. Others criticized this visit as a way of strengthening the junta’s bargaining power ultimately undermining the regional pressure on the military regime. Furthermore, some believe that the junta will use the ASEAN disunity to their advantage to remain in power while the world focuses on the Ukraine crisis.
Prak Sokhonn refuted these claims and reiterated his position that the visit was an attempt to open up more opportunities for dialogue to help bring peace to Myanmar, not to enhance the junta’s legitimacy.
While the visit of the ASEAN Special Envoy seems to have made little progress in these talks, the visit could at least pave ways for a future visit. As long as dialogue remains, there is still hope for the ASEAN envoy to negotiate a resolution to the conflict in Myanmar.
Sovinda Po is a Research Assistant at the Griffith Asia Institute.
