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Saturday, July 27, 2024

ASEAN Bans Myanmar Military Leadership from Meetings for Inaction On Peace Plan

This Week

Myanmar’s junta Generals will be barred from ASEAN meetings until progress is made on the agreed-upon “Five-Point Consensus” for peace.


Al Jazeera reports that the foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have decided that the generals who lead Myanmar’s military government will not be invited to ASEAN meetings until they achieve the goals set out in the “Five-Point Consensus” more than a year ago.

Myanmar’s foreign ministry responded to ASEAN’s statement with its own “five-point plan,” which was printed on the front page of Global New Light of Myanmar, a state-run media outlet.

Myanmar’s “five-point plan” stresses that “all ASEAN member states respect the provisions and basic principles of the ASEAN Charter” including “non-interference in the internal affairs of ASEAN Member States.”

The decision to exclude Myanmar follows the international outcry against recent executions, which ASEAN Chair Hun Sen called “highly reprehensible.” It is believed that about 2,158 people have been killed by armed forces since the military took power in a coup last year, which sparked resistance from armed rebel groups.

The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, met with ASEAN leaders in Bangkok last month to request that they take a firmer stance on Myanmar.

The Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs has so far reiterated the ASEAN position on Myanmar, and encourages “all parties concerned to engage in a peaceful resolution through constructive dialogue and reconciliation.”

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