The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) failed on Thursday to unblock their proposal for the conflict in Burma, plunged into an escalation of violence by the Army, despite admitting the absence of progress after the coup in that country in 2021.
(It may interest you: The Burma military junta announces an amnesty for more than 3,000 prisoners).
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“We have discussed the development (of the situation) in Burma and we have reiterated the common belief that the five-point consensus remains our main strategy“, underlines the final statement of the ASEAN leaders’ summit, held yesterday and today in Labuan Bajo, on the Indonesian island of Flores.
(Also: Myanmar: Military Court Sentences Suu Kyi to 7 Years in Jail for Corruption.)
The five-point consensus was agreed in April 2021 during a summit of the group in Jakarta with the Burmese military junta, two months after the coup on February 1 of that year, which ended a decade of democratic transition in Burma. and overthrew the civilian government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
The plan includes the end of violencethe dialogue between all the parties involved in the conflict, the appointment of a special envoy from ASEAN, the distribution of humanitarian aid and the trip of the special envoy to Burma.
However, “there has been no significant progress in consensus” since then, Joko Widodo, the president of Indonesia, who this year holds the presidency of ASEAN, acknowledged at the beginning of the day, urging the group to “decide on the next steps”. .
Widodo appealed to the unity of an organization built on the principle of non-interference and whose diversity, as it is made up of nations with very different models, from the authoritarian ones of Vietnam and Laos to the democratic ones of Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, make it difficult to reach a consensus among more aggressive measures.
Founded in 1967, ASEAN is made up of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Burma: a roadmap for the inclusion of East Timor has been established in Flores.
No change despite deterioration in Myanmar
The group finally maintained the same proposal that was agreed upon two years ago with the head of the board, Min Aung Hlaing, vetoed in Flores, although not only has the plan not been fruitful, but the situation in Burma has deteriorated.
According to the UN, at least 3,400 people have died at the hands of soldiers since the coup, which exacerbated the decades-long conflict between the army and ethnic guerrillas.which have been joined by pro-democratic militias that are gaining ground on the armed forces.
Just a couple of days before the summit, an Asean humanitarian aid convoy was fired upon, without record of damage, in Burmese’s western Shan state, an attack interpreted by some analysts as a sign of the junta’s unwillingness to abide by its neighbors’ plan.
Despite his previous admission that the group strategy was not viable, Widodo looked for the silver lining in a final press conference, arguing that the five-point consensus includes “dialogue with all parties,” including the board.
“Dialogue -he remarked- does not mean recognition“, in the face of criticism from the opposition in Burma that establishing contact with the military regime legitimizes the coup plotters.
However, Widodo evaded answering whether the group will again invite the heads of the junta to its meetings, as suggested months ago by the new Philippine president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
For her part, the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, together with Widodo at the press conference, took the floor at the end of it to more vehemently defend the group’s decision.
“The lack of progress on the five-point consensus does not mean that ASEAN has to give up.“, he concluded.
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