The Lives of Others

Episode #395: Laetitia van den Assum, a Dutch diplomat and former ambassador to Thailand, was one of nine members of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, a group set up in 2016 at Aung San Suu Kyi’s request and chaired by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Its mandate was to improve conditions in one of Myanmar’s poorest and most divided regions. In this conversation, van den Assum reflects on the Commission’s work, her dealings with Annan and Min Aung Hlaing, and the enduring challenges of Rakhine. From the outset, the military opposed the Commission because it had been established without their consent, and Min Aung Hlaing tried to push Parliament to expel the foreign members. But as van den Assum notes, “he could not stop us,” since the 25 percent of seats reserved for the military under the 2008 constitution was insufficient to block the process. Building trust among local communities was another hurdle-- the Commission had to prove that it represented everyone, not only the Rohingya. In August 2017, the Commission released its final report, containing 88 recommendations focused on peace, development, and human rights. The very next day, ARSA launched attacks on police posts, and the military retaliated with sweeping operations that drove 750,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh. Van den Assum believes these plans were already in place, describing the scale of violence as shocking but not unexpected. She continues to stress the report’s lessons. Citizenship remains central: without reform of the 1982 law that excluded the Rohingya and many others, genuine progress is impossible. Long-term planning also requires accurate population data, as nearly a million people were left uncounted in the 2014 census. Looking at Myanmar today, van den Assum sees fragmentation across the country and insists that peace must precede development and rights. Calling for pragmatic international support, she warns that Myanmar cannot rely on foreign aid indefinitely and must become more self-sufficient. Yet her appreciation for the resistance effort is unwavering: “My admiration knows no bounds for those continuing to fight for their self-determination. They don’t see a way back. There’s only a way forward.”