Magsaysay Awards honor Singaporean diplomat, Myanmar activist and Bangladeshi aid pioneer

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Singaporean diplomat credited with shepherding the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a Myanmar activist who has spent years documenting abuses by the military, and a Bangladeshi aid pioneer who built an organization that brings health care and opportunity to some of the country's poorest communities were named Monday as the winners of this year's Ramon Magsaysay Awards.

Often described as Asia's version of the Nobel Prize, the awards were created in memory of Ramon Magsaysay, the popular Philippine president who died in a 1957 plane crash. They honor individuals and organizations whose "greatness of spirit" is expressed through selfless service across Asia.

This year's honorees will be recognized at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila on Nov. 15, where they will receive a medallion, an inscribed certificate and an undisclosed cash prize. The prizes were first awarded in 1958.

Tommy Koh, 88, a lawyer and former ambassador who has chaired numerous international negotiations, was recognized for his decades-long faith in dialogue and international law. As president of the U.N. Conference on the Law of the Sea, he oversaw the 1982 adoption of the convention, which the awards body called a "constitution for the oceans."

The treaty set rules for territorial waters, economic rights over coastal resources and dispute settlement. It later became the legal basis for a 2016 arbitration ruling that rejected China's sweeping claims in the South China Sea. Beijing refused to take part in the case, brought by the Philippines, and has rejected the outcome, while the competing claims of China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have kept the region on edge for years.

"Through his steadfast faith in dialogue, the rule of law and international cooperation, he has helped make peaceful coexistence possible in a world of unequal power," the awards body said.

Bo Kyi, 61, a former political prisoner from Myanmar, was honored for a lifetime of resistance to military rule and for helping turn the names of the regime's detainees into causes that cannot be ignored. He was arrested twice and spent seven years in prison.

In 2000, with other former prisoners, he co-founded the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a group that has become a vital record of Myanmar's crackdowns. It documents political imprisonment, supports detainees and their families, and campaigns for the release of all political prisoners, including former leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Since the military seized power again in 2021, that documentation has taken on new urgency. The junta has detained thousands of its critics, and AAPP remains one of the most visible independent efforts to track political prisoners and press for their release.

Runa Khan, 67, was chosen for what the awards body described as "profound empathy for the poorest of the poor in her country." Born into an affluent Bangladeshi family, she began teaching poor children in 1979 and later founded Friendship Bangladesh in 2002 to bring care and opportunity to remote and disaster-prone communities.

The organization now employs more than 7,500 people and operates seven hospital ships, two land-based hospitals and 550 mobile clinics, bringing health care to some of the country's most marginalized people. It also works on climate adaptation, children's education, women's empowerment, livelihood training and legal aid for excluded communities.

"In her hands, privilege became not an entitlement, but a responsibility; not a family legacy to protect, but a gift to be shared so that others, too, might have the chance to live with hope, opportunity and dignity," the awards body said.