Ethnic Conflict and Peace Process: A Comparative Study in Aceh and Mindanao

Main Article Content

Suttiluck Sangsuwan

Abstract

The paper applies comparative framing analysis to explore ethnic conflict and peace process in Aceh, Indonesia and Mindanao, Philippines. The objectives of the paper are to study the ethnic conflicts, the peace process and analyze why the conflict in Aceh has been resolved and Mindanao has not. The grievance of the ethnic conflicts in Aceh and Mindanao are over human rights violations,the imbalance of economic policies, the setting of unjust social policies, and an ignorance of local values by the governments. The Aceh conflict was resolved after the signing of the Helsinki peace agreement between the Indonesia government and Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM)mediated by the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) in 2005. On the other hand, the 1976 Tripoli Agreement for special autonomy, the 1987 Jeddah Accord for expanding of autonomy and the 1996 Final Peace Agreement have been signed between Manila government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNFL) but the conflict is still on-going.


The successful resolution of the Aceh conflict was due to the political will of the Indonesian government, the unity of the rebel group, the third-party mediator, the special autonomy and the Tsunami. The obstacles for conflict resolution in southern Philippines are a lack of the political will by the Manila government, insurgency groups, weak mediator as the third party and spoilers.

Article Details

How to Cite
Sangsuwan, S. (2017). Ethnic Conflict and Peace Process: A Comparative Study in Aceh and Mindanao. Political Science and Public Administration Journal, 5(1), 54–65. Retrieved from https://so05.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/polscicmujournal/article/view/77003
Section
Special Articles

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