ASEAN Reaches Consensus To End Myanmar Crisis

ASEAN Leaders' Meeting in Jakarta (PHOTO VIA ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reached a consensus to help deal with the crisis in Myanmar, following the military coup against the elected government. "We acknowledge ASEAN's positive and constructive role in facilitating peaceful solutions for the benefit of the Myanmar people and their livelihoods, and because of this. "Five Points of Consensus" agreed with the "Chairman's Statement" which was released after the ASEAN Leaders' Meeting, as reported by Antara, Saturday, April 24. The five points of consensus agreed upon by ASEAN leaders, namely, first, violence must be stopped immediately in Myanmar and all parties must exercise complete restraint; second, constructive dialogue between all interested parties must be initiated to find peaceful solutions in the interests of the people. Furthermore, the third consensus point is that the special envoy of the ASEAN Chair will facilitate the mediation of the dialogue process with the assistance of the ASEAN Secretary General; fourth, ASEAN will provide humanitarian assistance through the AHA Center; and fifth, the special envoy and delegation will visit Myanmar to meet with all relevant parties. In a statement made by Brunei Darussalam as chair of ASEAN in 2021, the leaders also expressed deep concern over the situation in Myanmar, including reports of deaths and escalation of violence. The leaders also underlined calls for the release of all political prisoners including foreign nationals in Myanmar, attended by the leaders of Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Brunei Darussalam, along with the foreign ministers of Laos, Thailand and the Philippines, ASEAN Leaders The meeting is the first coordinated international effort to specifically discuss the resolution of the issue of Myanmar, which is plagued by conflict and violence after the military's overthrow of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, according to the statement by the Prime Minister of Singapore and Prime Minister of Malaysia, Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing who attended the meeting m respond well to this consensus and do not oppose ASEAN's constructive role to help resolve the crisis in his country. Meanwhile, Indonesian President Joko Widodo emphasized that the interests of the Myanmar people must always be a priority, so that violence must be stopped immediately in order to restore democracy and stability in Myanmar.

Myanmar has been in crisis since the military seized power from the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, in a coup on February 1, 2021. The military arrested Aung San Suu Kyi's state adviser, President Win Myint, politicians from the election-winning party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), as well as a number of pro-democracy and human rights activists in Myanmar. The almost daily demonstrations of civil disobedience against the Myanmar coup have been met with violence by security forces that have killed hundreds of people, according to data from the Aid Institute for Political Prisoners of Myanmar (AAPP) , the death toll in anti-coup protests in Myanmar has reached more than 600 people.