ASEAN AT A CROSSROADS: A CALL FOR A JUST, PEACEFUL AND HUMANE REGIONAL & GLOBAL ORDER

Majlis Perundingan Pertubuhan Islam Malaysia (Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations) – MAPIM
Space U8 , Eco Mall , Bukit Jelutong , Shah Alam , Selangor Malaysia
azmiabdulhamid58@gmail.com
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MALAYSIAN CIVIL SOCIETY
SUBMISSION TO THE ASEAN SUMMIT 2025

To

All ASEAN Head of Governments

ASEAN AT A CROSSROADS: A CALL FOR A JUST, PEACEFUL AND HUMANE REGIONAL & GLOBAL ORDER

We the Malaysian civil societies presents this position paper to the ASEAN Summit 2025, urging regional leaders to confront the urgent challenges of our time with moral clarity, courage, and people-centred leadership. Our vision is of an ASEAN that stands for peace, justice, dignity, and sustainability, not just economic integration.
We thereby forward our submission to the ASEAN SUMMIT 2025 with our call for the leaders of ASEAN to consider :

1. Peace and Stability in Conflict Areas: Myanmar, Southern Thailand, Mindanao, and the South China Sea

• Act as a neutral peace-building platform for intra-national conflicts.
• Lead in the diplomatic resolution of the Myanmar crisis and hold the junta accountable.
• Revive inclusive dialogue in Southern Thailand and Mindanao rooted in autonomy, justice, and Islamic principles where applicable.
• Ensure peaceful management of South China Sea tensions through diplomacy, not militarisation.

1. Human Rights and Human Dignity

ASEAN must institutionalise people-centred human rights protections, beyond economic or state interests, and address abuses consistently, including those involving member states.

3. Demilitarisation and Conflict Prevention

Rejecting proxy wars and external militarisation in Southeast Asia is critical. ASEAN must reassert its Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN) stance.

4. Just, Humane and Sustainable Economic Growth

We urge a shift from neoliberalism to a human economy that centres social equity, workers’ rights, and environmental stewardship.

5. BRICS and the New Global Economic Order

We supports closer ASEAN–BRICS engagement to:

• Challenge Western financial hegemony.
• Foster a multipolar, equitable financial system free from neocolonial control.

1. Environmental Justice and Climate Crisis

• Champion climate justice for the Global South.
• Reject extractive capitalism, especially on indigenous lands.
• Build resilience through community-based environmental stewardship.

1. Digital Technology and Equity

• Ethical AI governance, protection of data sovereignty, and closing the digital divide.
• Preventing surveillance capitalism and exploitation of personal data.

1. Socio-Cultural Harmony and Interfaith Solidarity

Preserving ASEAN’s multi-faith and multicultural heritage requires:

• Combatting hate speech and religious incitement.
• Institutionalising interfaith platforms for unity and peace-building.

1. Rights of Minorities: Religious and Cultural Identity

• Ensure protection of religious and ethnic minorities, especially in conflict zones and authoritarian states.
• Uphold the right to cultural identity, language, worship, and community autonomy, including in Southern Thailand, Myanmar (Rohingya), China ( Uyghur ) and India (Muslim , Christian and tribal minorities).

1. India–Pakistan Conflict and Kashmir

We express deep concern over the resurgence of hostilities between India and Pakistan, and the continued denial of the right to self-determination for the people of Kashmir.

• Take a proactive diplomatic role in urging India and Pakistan to resolve their disputes peacefully.
• Support the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir for a free plebiscite
• Advocate for human rights protections and demilitarisation in the Kashmir territory.

1. Global Superpower Rivalries and World Order

ASEAN must not be a pawn in great power rivalries. We advocate for:

• A non-aligned foreign policy.
• A democratised global order based on sovereignty, not hegemony.
• Develop institutional linkages with NAM to strengthen coordination on shared priorities.

1. ASEAN and the Global Economy

• Rejection of exploitative free trade pacts that undermine sovereignty.
• Strengthened intra-ASEAN solidarity over competition or dependency on major powers.

1. Palestine: A Test of ASEAN’s Conscience

• ASEAN recognize the State of Palestine.
• Sanctions against Israel for ongoing genocide and occupation.
• Immediate humanitarian mobilization for Gaza.
• ASEAN to become a bloc that stands unapologetically for Palestinian liberation.

1. Education and Intellectual Advancement

• Prioritize equitable access to quality education across all member states, especially in rural, indigenous, and marginalized communities.
• Invest in critical thinking, ethics, values-based learning, and regional history to shape an ASEAN identity rooted in justice and knowledge.
• Establish a platform for intellectual exchange, academic freedom, and collaboration among ASEAN universities, think tanks, and research institutions.
• Support the development of independent and indigenous knowledge systems, including Islamic scholarship, traditional sciences, and local wisdom.

We call for an ASEAN Education Solidarity Fund to uplift the educational infrastructure and academic capacities of under-resourced communities and post-conflict areas.

15. Health Care Preparedness and Preventive Policies

• Build a regional health preparedness and response mechanism that is people-centered and capable of handling future pandemics, natural disasters, and public health crises.
• Invest in community-based preventive healthcare, public health education, and traditional medicine systems.
• Ensure equitable access to essential healthcare services, clean water, nutrition, and sanitation for all populations, particularly refugees, migrant workers, and urban poor communities.
• Strengthen ASEAN cooperation in pharmaceutical sovereignty, vaccine equity, and anti-corporate monopolization of medical supplies.
• We acall on ASEAN to adopt a “Health Justice Charter” that ensures healthcare is a right, not a commodity. Conclusion

ASEAN’s strength must lie in moral vision, regional unity, and people-first diplomacy. We urge leaders to elevate ASEAN beyond economics — into a beacon of principled leadership for the Global South.

Endorsed

1. Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations.
2. Alliance of World Masjid In Defence of Al Aqsa
3. Southeast Asia Institute for Justice and Peace
4. Institute for Global Peace Advocacy
5. Secretariat for Ulama Assembly of Asia
6. Persatuan Wartawan Melayu Malaysia
7. International Institute Islamic Tassawur
8. Malaysia Muslim Youth Movement
9. Persatuan Persaudaraan Muslimah Malaysia.
10. Allied Coordinating Committee of Islamic NGOs
11. Pertubuhan Himpunan Lepasan Institusi Pendidikan Malaysia.
12. Pertubuhan Kebajikan Rakyat Sejagat Malaysia (SEJAGAT)
13. Teras Pengupayaan Melayu
14. Sukarelawan Ummah Malaysia
15. Malaysian Palestinian Workers Union
16. Jaringan Masjid SeMalaysia
17. Rural Citizen
18. Persatuan Muslim Global
19. International Monetory Justice
20. Persatuan Kebangsaan Pelajar Islam Malaysia
21. Malaysia for Uyghur
22. Forum Komuniti Kemboja
23. Sekretariat Kebangkitan Nusantara
24. Malaysian Kashmir Youth Forum
25. Malaysia Women for Kashmir
26. Inisiatif Madani Serantau
27. Inisiatif Madani Rakyat Darul Aman.
28. Persatuan Ulama Kedah
29. Persatuan Pesara Guru Kuala Muda Kedah
30. Persatuan Ulama Malaysia
31. Seniman Paksi Rakyat
32. Amal 2 You
33. Yayasan Mawar P.Pinang
34. Permuafakat P.Pinang
35. Majlis Ulama Rohingya
36. Pertubuhan Bakti Amal Tunjang Utama.
37. Sungai Petani Bandar Ulil Albab
38. Penggerak MAPIM Kedah
39. Penggerak MAPIM Pulau Pinang
40. Southeast Asia Regional Coalition for Palestine
41. Majlis Bertindak Tanah Melayu
42. .Ikatan Artis Cinta Al Aqsa
43. Forum Ekonomi Manusiawi
44. Boycott Divestment Sanction Malaysia (BDS)
45. WADAH Pencerdasan Umma
46. Yayasan Al Quds Malaysia
47. Secretariat Uyghur Care International (SUCI)
48. Persatuan Pembangunan Bahasa Tradisi dan Budaya Tamil Muslim
49. Persatuan Pembangunan Insan Darussalam Malaysia
50. Kompleks Pendidikan Baitul Ridhuan
51. Persatuan Wanita Prihatin Malaysia