In One City, a Tale of Two Asean Forums

Government officials did not, and Lao students could not, attend yesterday’s Asean Peoples’ Forum in Phnom Penh, where more than 1,500 members of civil society groups discussed the region’s most pressing issues, including human rights, poverty, land usurping and domestic violence. The three-day forum, which is not officially recognized by Cambodia or other Asean governments, found itself competing yesterday with a mirror three-day “Asean people’s forum” in Chaktomuk Conference Hall—which was organized, supported and attended by senior government officials. The dueling people’s forums in Phnom Penh this week underlined the deep divide between the region’s civil society organizations; on one side, the organizations that are critical of their governments, and on the other, state-sponsored organizations that were showcased this week ahead of the Asean Summit. … A representative from the Lao Embassy said the order came from the Asean Department of Foreign Affairs in Laos. “This forum is not the forum [the Laos government] wished for them to attend…. The Asean Department of Laos prefers them to attend the forum that started yesterday,” said the representative. …