[20th Peace Studies Forum] International Perspective on Children’s Rights: Focusing on Rohingya Refugee Children

• Date&Time: September 14th, 2023 (Thu) 17:00 –18:20 (KST)
• Venue: Online video conference (ZOOM)
• Moderator: Kim, Booyuel (Professor, Graduate School of Environmental Studies)
• Speaker: Oh, Joon (Board Chair, Save the Children Korea/ Former South Korean Ambassador to the United Nations)
• Topic: International Perspective on Children’s Rights: Focusing on Rohingya Refugee Children

The Institute for Unification and Peace Studies at Seoul National University(IPUS at SNU) held the 20th Peace Studies Forum on Thursday, September 14, 2023, with Oh Joon, Former South Korean Ambassador to the United Nations, as the guest speaker. In this forum, Professor Kim, Booyuel from the Seoul National University Graduate School of Environmental Studies took on the role of moderator and delivered the opening remarks to kick off the lecture.

Ambassador Oh posed the question, ‘What is human rights?’ and emphasized “the need for respect for human dignity and the protection of human rights within the context of human society.” He stressed that, in addition to ‘peace’ and ‘development,’ ‘human rights’ are one of the United Nations’ three core pillars. He highlighted the fact that the United Nations is striving to secure human rights by establishing nine agreements, with seven of them specifically aimed at protecting the rights of the socially disadvantaged.

Ambassador Oh viewed ‘children’s rights’ through the lens of the United Nations’ three core pillars. He pointed out that the traditional perspective of regarding children as subjects of protection and education has evolved into recognizing children as ‘rights-holders’ in terms of human rights. He also noted the importance of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been ratified by 196 countries, surpassing the United Nations’ 193 member states, as evidence of the widespread recognition of children’s rights. He emphasized that ensuring children’s rights is closely related to a country’s capacity and is a matter of ‘development cooperation.’

Ambassador Oh underscored the importance of addressing the issue of Rohingya refugee children, particularly highlighting the severity of the situation. He explained that when the Rohingya refugees flowed into Bangladesh in large numbers in 2017, the Bangladeshi government did not recognize them as refugees, making them the largest stateless population in the world. Given that half of the Rohingya refugees are children, the Rohingya refugee issue is essentially a child’s rights issue. In that the most critical aspect of children’s rights, ‘education,’ is not being provided to Rohingya refugee children, Ambassador Oh concluded by emphasizing the need for continued diplomatic efforts to find common ground between Bangladesh and Myanmar while maintaining ongoing attention and support to ensure that the Rohingya refugee children’s humanitarian crisis does not fade into obscurity.