Speaking at a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday, Thomas Andrews, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, said that ASEAN must consider alternative options to break what has become "a deadly stalemate."
If ASEAN remains deadlocked, Indonesia must reach out to those nations who support the people of Myanmar and engage in coordinated actions that will isolate and degrade the junta's capacity to attack the people, he advised.
Indonesia, as ASEAN chair, has been trying to advance the peace process by engaging key stakeholders in Myanmar's conflict for months. Those steps have been undertaken in keeping with the five-point peace plan agreed by ASEAN and the junta after it seized power in a 2021 coup.
However, Andrews said, Indonesia's effort to advance the Five-Point Consensus through engagement and accountability is facing major pushback from two quarters.
First, the junta, which has continued to refuse to abide by the consensus. Second, a group of governments that have convened a high-level meeting with junta representatives.
ASEAN is divided on how to deal with Myanmar. This week, the Thai government invited ASEAN foreign ministers and junta representatives to a meeting to discuss a proposal for the bloc to re-engage Myanmar's junta. But some ASEAN members declined to attend the meeting.
Thailand justified the meeting by saying that direct talks were necessary to protect the country, which shares a long border with Myanmar.
Andrews said the meeting in Thailand "can have the dangerous effect of legitimizing the junta and undermining ASEAN unity."
The ASEAN region consists of Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Brunei Darussalam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam.
Since the junta, led by General Min Aung Hlaing, carried out the coup on February 1, 2021, it has perpetrated violence against the people of Myanmar.
According to a UN report, the junta’s troops have killed more than 3 thousand civilians, detained more than 19 thousand people, and displaced at least 1.5 million people from their homes, with more than 58 thousand houses, schools, and clinics burned to the ground so far.
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Reporter: Shofi Ayudiana
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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