SPECIAL REPORT: MINORITY CONFLICTS – TOWARDS AN ASEM FRAMEWORK FOR CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

6th ASIA-EUROPE ROUNDTABLE
10-12 June 2009 

The 6th Asia-Europe Roundtable “Minority Conflicts – Towards an ASEM Framework for Conflict Management “ was held on 10-12 June 2009 in Derry and Letterkenny in both jurisdictions in Ireland. It was the sixth in a series of meetings on conflict management, bringing together participants from the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) member countries.

Go to: http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/singapur/07198.pdf

SPECIAL REPORT OF THE 6TH ASIA-EUROPE ROUNDTABLE

By Don Pathan

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

Building on the findings from the previous gatherings, the recently concluded 6th Asia-Europe Round Table (AER) examined different types of minority conflicts with a particular focus on “frozen conflicts” in which cessation of open hostility offers a chance for the regional and international community to explore possible solutions and frameworks for transforming the conflict into sustainable peace. While the 5th AER explored the various potential pitfalls of managing a peace process, the 6th AER facilitated discussion of relevant case studies to illustrate how conflicts developed and provided different perspectives on various possible solutions or framework for managing conflict. While keeping in mind that each conflict is unique in its character because of different underlying causes, contours and trajectories, participants at the 6th AER succeeded in teasing out some common threads on why these conflicts evolved along certain patterns and how they might be addressed. More than 40 Asian and European experts in conflict and peace studies and research, academics, specialised journalists, human rights activists, practitioners, and diplomats came together in Derry and Letterkenny in both jurisdictions in Ireland from June 10-12, 2009 to work towards a framework for conflict management. The following is a summary of some of the recommendations that the experts came up with. 

For full report: http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/singapur/07198.pdf (see page 11 for the Special Report by Don Pathan)

Special Report of the 6th Asia-Europe Roundtable                                                                         page 11 

Mr. Don Pathan
Journalist
The Nation

Executive Summary: Key Messages and Recommendations
Report on Proceedings

1. Setting the Scene: An Informal Briefing on Northern Ireland page 13
2. Two Case Studies: Asia and Europe page 14
3. “When, Who and How” of Conflict Management: The Success of ASEAN-EU Aceh Monitoring Mission page 20
4. Cafe Conversations and Open Space page 21
5. Dialogue with Local Community Leaders page 22