SE Asian leaders struggle with question of Myanmar violence
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders struggled Friday to come to a consensus on how to pressure Myanmar to comply with a plan for peace, with violence in the member state spiraling out of control since the military seized power in 2021.
The group has banned leaders of Myanmar, also known as Burma, from participating in its top-level events, like the ongoing summit in Phnom Penh, in an effort to pressure them to comply with ASEAN's five-point plan for peace, so far with little effect.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, whose country assumes ASEAN's rotating chair after Cambodia, told reporters on the sidelines of the summit that he had proposed broadening the ban on Myanmar political representatives beyond the summit and foreign ministers' meeting to other events — something urged by human rights groups.
“Indonesia is deeply disappointed the situation in Myanmar is worsening,” he said. “We must not allow the situation in Myanmar to define ASEAN.”
The ASEAN plan calls for the immediate cessation of violence, a dialogue among all parties, mediation by an ASEAN special envoy, provision of humanitarian aid and a visit to Myanmar by the special envoy to meet all sides.
Myanmar’s government initially agreed to the plan but has made little effort to implement it.
Under the current ban on political representation, Myanmar has been allowed to send non-political representatives to top-level events but has refused.
Talks among ASEAN’s other members — Cambodia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei — about how to put pressure on Myanmar to comply with the five-point plan have been ongoing in Phnom Penh since mid-week.
Singapore and Malaysia, and at times Brunei, have backed Indonesia's calls for...