ASEAN-Burma relations
Individual Documents
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"CONTENTS: 2 Trials for NLD leaders
2 NUG and CRPH
5 COVID-19 surge
5 Conflict and displacement
6 Ceasefires
6 Displacement
7 Fighting by region
9 Protests and violent crackdowns
12 Resistance bites
12 Women continue to lead, and to
suffer disproportionately
13 International reactions, sanctions
15 ASEAN engagement
15 ASEAN-China meeting
17 UN General Assembly
17 G7 Summit
17 Effects on foreign business
18 Foreign links identified
18 Economy continues to sink
19 Junta continues to enrich itself.....Junta seeks to bolster coup narrative: Since April, the junta has published at least three
propaganda books that omitted its killing of over 800
pro-democracy protesters. The books focused on the
myth that the military had to take over due to
widespread electoral fraud by the NLD in the 2020
elections. According to the books’ prefaces: “Although
Myanmar’s democracy foundation shaped by the
Tatmadaw since 1988 is making certain progress, the
democratic journey is delayed by voter-list errors and
poor transparency in the 2020 election and the failure
to handle the Tatmadaw’s statements on the election.”
On 10 June, the Ministry of Information reported that
the junta’s Union Election Commission had found
evidence of electoral fraud by the NLD after examining
the voter lists and voting conditions in 49 townships in
Shan State. It declared that NLD candidates violated
the Hluttaw Election Law, as well as COVID-19
prevention and control guidelines during the campaign
and on polling day. The Commission added that the
NLD had “arranged to seize power in advance”, and
concluded that the election was not free and fair. This
was one in a months-long series of examinations by
location since February.
During the ASEAN-Russian Federation Summit on
Security on 28 June, junta representative Lt-Gen Yar
Pyae said that electoral fraud by the NLD had led to a
loss of trust in democracy and the election system. He
claimed that the Tatmadaw had no choice but to take
power to maintain stability. Yar Pyae also accused the
NLD of banning “the rights of democracy, including
media freedom” during its first term in office, and
blamed the kyat’s drop in value and increased
commodity prices on their “wrong” economic policies.
Irrawaddy (24 Jun 2021) Myanmar Junta Propaganda Books
Hope to Rewrite History; SAC (10 Jun 2021) Announcement
of Union Election Commission; SAC (29 Jun 2021) Union
Minister Lt-Gen Yar Pyae joins virtual ASEAN-Russian
Federation Summit on Security Affairs.....Junta’s “perfect information”: In light of widespread condemnation by independent
media, the NUG, and foreign governments, the junta
sought to dispute the facts about its military actions.
On 7 June, it denied that its troops initiated a 5 June
shootout with villagers armed with homemade guns
in Kyonpyaw Township (Ayeyarwady Region). This
contradicted news reports that the Tatmadaw fired
first. The junta also alleged that three villagers were
killed, compared to 20 in other sources.
On 19 June, it criticized CNN and Reuters for their
“wrong news without media ethics” after they
reported, on 17 June, that junta forces had burned
down 80% of homes in Kinma Village, Pauk
Township (Magway Region). It alleged that a local
PDF and insurgents from Chin State set fire to the
house of a USDP member during a clash with
security forces on June 15, leading to more fires.
Also on 19 June, it published a press release on the
incident, accusing the CRPH, NUG, PDF, extremist
NLD members and followers of spreading rumours
on social networks to cause instability. On 20 June,
it alleged that the PDF had deliberately set fire to
Kinma to raise funds through Facebook donations,
tarnish the image of the government, and draw
international condemnation.
On 21 June, the (reconstituted) Myanmar Press
Council released a statement that unlicensed local
media outlets, international news agencies, and
foreign embassies had spread fake news regarding
the events in Kinma to help international
organizations interfere with the country’s internal
affairs. It said it would not be responsible for further
disputes that occur if media workers contact and
provide information to news outlets whose licenses
were revoked by the junta. The next day, the junta
said official news media had already provided “the
perfect information” and urged news agencies to
follow international media ethics.
SAC (7 Jun 2021) Exaggeration of media on attack in
Ayeyawady Region; Myanmar Now (5 Jun 2021) Junta
troops kill three civilians in shootout over arrest of local
villager; Guardian (6 Jun 2021) Myanmar junta forces
reportedly kill 20 civilians in fresh clashes; SAC (19 Jun
2021) CNN, Reuters news agencies presenting news
without media ethics need to post correct news; SAC (19
Jun 2021) Public information released not to believe fake
and false news on social networks; SAC (20 Jun 2021)
Statement strongly condemns media outlets and
organizations spreading false information on Kinma fire
case; SAC (22 Jun 2021) Media council releases
statement urging to follow journalism ethics; SAC (26 Jun
2021) Myanmar Press Council – Announcement 5/2021.....Latest information control measure: whitelists: In June, internet providers in Burma confirmed that
the junta plans to allow access only to approved
(“whitelisted”) websites/platforms, whereas before
the internet was open except for blacklisted sites.
From February, the junta instructed internet
providers to ban platforms like Facebook and
Twitter, and continued to add other websites, often
via twice-weekly directives. A senior official at
Burma telecommunications company MPT said the
junta gave the company hundreds of thousands of
IP addresses to blacklist, including news websites.
For nearly 50 days, there were only around 500,000
internet connections in a country of 54
million. Website/platform bans and internet
blackouts disrupted even the most basic functions of
the banking, education, transportation, and
healthcare sectors.
The junta restored access to the internet over mobile
data in May. Popular websites and platforms like
Facebook and Twitter remain inaccessible without a
VPN, but some mobile banking applications became
usable again. An IT professional said that while the
junta could not ban some Cloudflare VPNs, most
VPNs could be shut down as whitelisting begins.
All internet users in Burma will likely eventually be
affected by whitelisting, but so far the whitelist only
seems to be affecting mobile internet. The ministry
has sent its lists of over 1,000 websites and
applications to be whitelisted, and mandated that
mobile operators and internet service providers
follow the whitelist plan.
MPT was also recently required to begin monitoring
calls and the most frequently visited websites.
Senior official said they could not view emails and
chats, but were monitoring the highest traffic
websites from local IP addresses.
Frontier Myanmar (30 Jun 2021) Whitelisted internet
takes Myanmar back to a ‘dark age’..."
Source/publisher:
Altsean Burma, Burma Human Rights Network, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Initiatives for International Dialogue, International Federation for Human Rights, Progressive Voice, US Campaign for Burma, and Women Peace Network
Date of publication:
2021-07-01
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Human Rights and international relations, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., ASEAN-Burma relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG), Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
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" The junta, still unable to gain political, territorial, or economic control in the fourth
month since its forcible and unconstitutional power grab, has engulfed the entire
country in armed conflict.
Security forces created battlefields in more towns and cities, expanded airstrikes
on Chin, Kachin, Karen, Karenni, and Sagaing States/Regions, and shelled villages
in all of these places as well as in Shan State.
During May alone, security forces killed at least 125 civilians and displaced over
150,000. There were 530 violent attacks that either targeted or failed to protect
civilians in the first three weeks of May, and a total 2,098 incidents 1 Feb–21 May.
In total, they have killed over 1,000 civilians, injured thousands more, displaced over
200,000 mainly ethnic minority people, and detained at least 5,554 politicians,
activists, journalists and others, in attacks against the democracy movement.
The National Unity Government (NUG) formed an interim armed force, began a
constitutional reform process, and took other democratic, inclusive governance
measures. It suggested granting ICC jurisdiction over events since 1 February.
Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing snubbed ASEAN’s 5-point consensus by escalating
violence and discarding commitments without consequences—ASEAN members
instead moved to remove the call for an arms embargo at the UN General Assembly.
The junta’s oppressive attempts to gain control of the country is disintegrating the
economy. The value of the Kyat fell by 20% since January, inflating costs for people
already impacted by the crippling economic impacts of the coup and COVID-19.
Junta leaders, secure in their access to foreign currency through oil, gas, and
natural resource exploitation, seem willing to accept destruction of the domestic
economy as the price of territorial control.
In order to avert worse violence and create
space for dialogue and negotiations, the
movement in Burma and allies urge that:
o The UN, foreign states, and international
finance institutions (IFIs) must expand
sanctions;
o These actors must engage with the NUG
as the legitimate government of Burma,
rather than the junta; and
o The UN Security Council must take a
more active role, in the face of ASEAN’s
weakness and the junta’s intransigence.....CONTENTS: 2 NUG fights for democracy
5 Air strikes, artillery, and attacks
on towns
10 Violent crackdowns on resistance
13 Resistance bites
14 Protests continue despite dangers
15 Women continue to lead, and
continue to be targeted
16 International reactions, sanctions
18 More corporations depart
19 Economy continues to sink
20 Junta focuses on extractives for
personal enrichment..."
Source/publisher:
Altsean Burma, Burma Human Rights Network, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Initiatives for International Dialogue, International Federation for Human Rights, Progressive Voice, US Campaign for Burma, and Women Peace Network
Date of publication:
2021-06-02
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, National Unity Government (NUG), Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations, ASEAN-Burma relations
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"The protests continued for the 12th week across the country despite the brutal crackdown. After a weeks-long absence, protesters returned to the streets in downtown Yangon ahead of the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting. The media also reported that more than 110 people, many of them student activists and youth protesters, were abducted by the junta. Some of the protest leaders’ houses were raided while some of them fled to avoid the arrests.
The ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting was held on 24 April in Jakarta, Indonesia and was represented by junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing despite strong objection from the people of Myanmar and both local and international CSOs. The calls to invite the National Unity Government (NUG) to the meeting in order to address the issue of Myanmar were not fulfilled. The meeting ended with the issue of a “Five Points of Consensus”, which was criticised for not including the call for the release of political detainees in Myanmar. Deadly crackdowns on the protesters and the attacks on ethnic communities by the junta continued even during the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting.
The World Bank forecast the Myanmar economy will decline by 10 percent this year due to the impact of the military coup. Around 200,000 workers in the garment industry have lost their jobs and nearly a third of the garment industry jobs have been wiped out with many other industries. The World Food Program (WFP) analysis also shows up to 3.4 million or more people will struggle to afford food in coming months with urban areas worst affected as job losses mount in manufacturing, construction and services and food prices are in rise.
As air raids and the continuing fights between the Myanmar military led thousands of people to cross the border to Thailand and India. The humanitarian organizations also stressed the importance of unfettered access to everyone fleeing Myanmar to provide lifesaving aid and other services, including healthcare, food and water.
There are nearly 250,000 displaced persons inside Myanmar or neighbouring countries like Thailand, India. However, there is no proper humanitarian assistance for these victims and it was discussed in many CSOs forums for immediate actions, specially from the Thai government, UN and other international relief groups.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners figures show that as of 25 April, 751 people are confirmed killed by this junta. 3,431 are currently under detention while 79 are sentenced. 1,159 arrest warrants have been issued. 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonment..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of publication:
2021-06-26
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Human Rights and international relations, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"The pro-democracy protests continued across the country while the Myanmar community outside of the country also conducted the protests in places such as London, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo and Seoul. The protests started again in Yangon last week just before the ASEAN summit after a few weeks of absence. Some flashmobs were also witnessed in townships such as Kyauktada, Sanchaung, Ahlone, Hlaing, Kamayut, Dawbon, Thaketa, Tamwe, Insein and Hlaing Tharyar townships in Yangon.
A series of small-scale explosions also reported in Yangon in the past week. On 2 May alone, explosions were reported at least in six townships including Insein, Hlaing Thar Yar, Tamwe, North Dagon, South Dagon and Thaketa.
The junta lifted the nightly fibre internet cut off while mobile data and wireless broadband remain blocked, except for some selected business and banking apps. Social media, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, are still banned in the country.
Despite the call for immediate cessation of violence through ASEAN summit by the ASEAN leaders which was joined by the junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, deadly crackdowns, human rights violations, raids and arrests have continued in days and nights. The junta also announced that stability is the current priority of the regime including maintaining law and order and restoring community peace and tranquility. The junta also announced it will only consider the ASEAN leaders’ recommended five-point consensus after the situation stabilizes in the country.
Suppression of media and arrest of journalists also continued. More than 70 journalists have been arrested since the coup and of them, 40 are still under detention and another 22 journalists face arrest warrants on incitement charges. It was also reported last week the junta has terminated the license of Myitkyina News Journal, a local media based in Kachin State.
In the past week, tension between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed organizations Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) intensified. The military launched more airstrikes in the conflict areas, causing more residents to flee across the Thailand border.
There is also a trend that pro-democracy activists express their support towards the ethnic armed organizations and receive military training from ethnic armies in Myanmar's borderlands. Thousands of young people including students, doctors and engineers have joined the training in Karen and Kachin States.
The UNDP has reported that nearly half of Myanmar’s population could be forced into poverty by 2022 due to the impacts of military rule and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners figures showed that as of 2 May, 765 people have been killed by the junta, 3,555 are currently under detention while 82 were sentenced. 1,396 arrest warrants have been issued and among them 20 were sentenced to death and 14 to three years imprisonmen..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of publication:
2021-05-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Anti-coup protesters, National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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" Former U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon urged his successor on Monday to engage directly with Myanmar's military to prevent an increase in post-coup violence and said southeast Asian countries should not dismiss the turmoil as an internal issue for Myanmar.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, has communicated with the military since it ousted an elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, but the army has not allowed her to visit.
"Given the gravity and urgency of the situation, I believe the secretary-general himself should use his good offices to engage directly with the Myanmar military, to prevent an escalation of violence," Ban, secretary-general from 2007 to 2016, told a U.N. Security Council meeting.
Guterres is "very actively involved" on Myanmar and "has been for a long time," said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric, adding: "His good offices, along with his special envoy, are always available. We all want to see an end to the violence."
Guterres told the Security Council on Monday that a "robust international response grounded on a unified regional effort" was needed, urging "regional actors to leverage their influence to prevent further deterioration and, ultimately, find a peaceful way out of this catastrophe."
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been trying to find a way out of the violence tearing at fellow member Myanmar. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is due to attend an ASEAN summit in Indonesia on April 24.
"ASEAN must make it clear to the Myanmar military that the current situation is so grave that it cannot be regarded only as an internal matter," said Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister who is now a member of The Elders global leaders group.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group, 737 people have been killed by security forces since the coup and 3,229 remain in detention.
"The military's use of lethal force and the gross violations of human rights being perpetrated against the civilians are not compatible with the ASEAN Charter," he said. "These actions are clear violations of international law, and constitute a threat to the peace, security and stability of the region."
Ban also urged the Security Council to move beyond statements to collective action. However, some diplomats say Russia and China are likely to prevent any stronger action..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-04-20
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, The UN and Burma - news and commentary, ASEAN-Burma relations, Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma
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"The following is attributable to Spokesperson Ned Price:
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met with UN Special Envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener today in Washington, D.C. Deputy Secretary Sherman and Special Envoy Burgener discussed the international community’s efforts to help bring an end to the Burmese military’s violence and repression, including by urging ASEAN to hold the Burmese military accountable to the five-point consensus and supporting the people of Burma in their efforts to return Burma to the path of democracy. They also discussed efforts to ensure access to vital humanitarian aid for vulnerable populations inside Burma and to encourage countries in the region to provide assistance and safe haven to refugees and asylum seekers..."
Source/publisher:
United States Department of State
Date of publication:
2021-06-22
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, ASEAN-Burma relations, The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced new sanctions against the Myanmar Timber Enterprise, Myanmar Pearl Enterprise and the State Administration Council.
Description:
"measures announced will restrict the military junta’s ability to profit from timber and pearl, key sources of revenue for the regime
UK will maintain suspension on trade promotion in Myanmar and strengthen advice to British businesses following review of Myanmar trade
In the UK’s sixth tranche of Myanmar sanctions, measures announced today will target the Myanmar regime’s economic interest with new designations against the State Administration Council (SAC), the junta’s ruling body, who continue to undermine democracy and brutally suppress Myanmar’s civilians. These sanctions send a clear message to the junta the UK will not allow financial support that props up the military regime following the coup earlier this year.
Additional measures will now be imposed on the Myanmar Timber Enterprise and Myanmar Pearl Enterprise, 2 state owned entities in Myanmar’s extractive sector. These asset freezes will be enforced with immediate effect, and target the junta’s ability to profit from pearl and timber, 2 high-value natural commodities that generate millions in revenue for the military regime.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said:
Alongside our allies, we are placing sanctions on companies linked to Myanmar’s military junta, targeting the finances of this illegitimate regime.
The military has continued its subversion of democracy and brutal killing of civilians. We will continue to hold the Junta to account and sanction those responsible, until democracy is restored.
Today the Foreign Secretary has also announced the conclusion of the UK’s Myanmar Trade Review. In a Written Ministerial Statement in Parliament, he confirmed that the UK will maintain its suspension on trade promotion in Myanmar first imposed following the coup earlier this year.
The UK will also strengthen our Overseas Business Risk guidance to reiterate the message that UK businesses must undertake enhanced supply chain due diligence and should not enter into trading relationships that benefit the Myanmar military.
The Myanmar Trade Review emphasised that UK businesses continue to have an important role to play in Myanmar in job creation and poverty alleviation, but should operate responsibly in order to avoid inadvertently supporting the military regime.
Today’s new sanctions announcement, alongside the similar announcement from the European Union on Myanmar Timber Enterprise, follows the recent G7 communiqué which called on partners and business to exercise due diligence in their trade and investment in Myanmar. Under the UK’s presidency the G7 continues to call for an end to the coup and the immediate adoption of the ASEAN 5-point consensus..."
Source/publisher:
Govt. UK (London)
Date of publication:
2021-06-22
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, ASEAN-Burma relations, Sanctions, Business and the Military, Burma's economic relations with the United Kingdom, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"59. We condemn in the strongest terms the military coup in Myanmar, and the violence committed by Myanmar’s security forces, and we call for the immediate release of those detained arbitrarily. We pledge our support to those advocating peacefully for a stable and inclusive democracy. Recalling ASEAN’s central role, we welcome its Five Point Consensus and urge swift implementation. We reiterate our commitment to ensuring that neither development assistance nor the sale of arms will benefit the military, and urge businesses to exercise due diligence in their trade and investment in the same vein. We reaffirm G7 unity on pursuing additional measures should they prove necessary. We are also deeply concerned by the humanitarian situation, call for unfettered humanitarian access to vulnerable and displaced populations, support the Humanitarian Response Plan, and encourage others to contribute..."
Source/publisher:
The White House (Washington, D.C.)
Date of publication:
2021-06-13
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Relations, ASEAN-Burma relations, Humanitarian assistance - emergencies, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Description:
"Myanmar government should have a seat at ASEAN summit
(BANGKOK, April 23, 2021)–The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should work with the newly formed National Unity Government in Myanmar and the broader international community to bring an end to the Myanmar military junta’s attacks and ensure a transition to democratic, civilian rule, said Fortify Rights today.
Myanmar coup-leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing is expected to join a special ASEAN summit on Myanmar on April 24 in Jakarta while ASEAN sidelined the National Unity Government from the discussions.
“By inviting coup-leader Min Aung Hlaing and ignoring Myanmar’s elected civilian leaders, ASEAN lends legitimacy to an illegal and brutal military regime,” said Ismail Wolff, Regional Director of Fortify Rights. “ASEAN should use this special summit as an opportunity to collectively reject the February 1 coup and the military’s subsequent attack on civilians, recognize the legitimacy of the National Unity Government, and garner collective support for economic sanctions and an arms embargo against the Myanmar military.”
If Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing fails to demonstrate an immediate end to the junta’s attempted coup and attack on civilians, then ASEAN member states should consider ousting Myanmar from the regional block, said Fortify Rights.
On February 1, Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing orchestrated a military coup d’état, overthrowing the elected government and detaining President Win Myint, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, and dozens of other government leaders, parliamentarians, and human rights defenders. The junta took over the executive, judicial, and legislative levers of power and, on February 2, created the military-appointed State Administration Council to rule the country.
On April 16, ousted members of parliament, anti-coup protest leaders, and representatives of Myanmar’s ethnic minorities announced the establishment of the National Unity Government. The National Unity Government committed to end military rule and build a federal democracy.
Since the February 1 coup, junta-controlled security forces reportedly killed more than 700 people and detained more than 3,000 in a brutal, nationwide assault against the population. The junta also deployed the air force and launched airstrikes against villages in ethnic army-controlled border areas, killing and injuring civilians, displacing thousands, and sparking concerns of a regional refugee crisis. It has also cut internet access and mobile data nationally, preventing the population from communicating with each other and beyond.
“ASEAN member states should coordinate with the international community to bring effective pressure to bear on Myanmar’s murderous regime,” said Ismail Wolff. “ASEAN can no longer hide behind its flawed policy of non-interference. Governments in this region need to show leadership and stand with the people of Myanmar by categorically rejecting the junta and recognizing the legitimate civilian leadership.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Fortify Rights"
Date of publication:
2021-04-23
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), ASEAN-Burma relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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Experts say the EU's new sanctions against Myanmar raise questions over a contradiction in policy, which calls on ASEAN to take the lead in mediation. There is also concern over how effective the sanctions will be.
Description:
"Questions have been raised over the EU's exact objectives regarding Myanmar, after its foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, last Thursday said that a third round of sanctions will soon be imposed on the country's military and economic interests.
Following its February 1 coup, which overthrew the recently reelected civilian government headed by national icon Aung San Suu Kyi, the military is believed to have killed at least 845 people, the majority of whom were civilians who participated in nationwide pro-democracy protests.
The coup has also escalated the country's seven-decade-old insurgencies, with several ethnic militia groups now cooperating to oppose the junta. The National Unity Government, an underground government composed of opponents of the military junta, including ousted parliamentarians, also recently announced the creation of their own militia, the People's Defense Force.
As tensions continue to escalate, the majority of foreign powers, including the EU, have publicly backed the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc in taking the lead to mediate a resolution to the conflict.
Situation beyond ASEAN's reach
However, the situation now appears to be beyond the reach of ASEAN, for whom the Myanmar crisis represents its biggest and most difficult test in decades.
The junta's continued violence and repression go against the five-point consensus it agreed to with ASEAN in April. And Myanmar's pro-democracy movement now says it doesn't trust ASEAN's interlocutors, especially as there appears to be little chance that the bloc can mediate a deal that allows the now-banned National League for Democracy (NLD) to return to power, or even to politics.
Moreover, accusations have been made that the EU is sanctioning the same Myanmar officials that ASEAN may soon confer legitimacy upon, if the bloc's eventual resolution allows the junta to remain in power until new elections are held, which are likely to be rigged by the military.
The EU first agreed to impose sanctions on several officials in Myanmar's military junta and its aligned companies in mid-February. But it took several weeks for the measures to be formally adopted.
A second round of sanctions in April targeted a dozen more junta officials, as well as key military-owned conglomerates, Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited and Myanmar Economic Corporation.....A hazy relationship with oil companies: However, one notable exception so far from the sanctions list is the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), a state-owned enterprise with close connections to the military's business assets.
"It is imperative that the EU sanctions Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise and junta-controlled banks to cut the flow of revenue financing the military's international crimes," said Yadanar Maung, spokesperson for Justice for Myanmar, a research activist group.
"The most significant single source of revenue for the military is from oil and gas, channeled through offshore accounts belonging to state-owned banks," Maung added. "This is wealth that belongs to the people of Myanmar, who have made clear their absolute rejection of the coup."
In late May, petroleum giants Total SA and Chevron — French and American-owned, respectively — announced that they had terminated cash payments to the junta, the dividends they derive from transporting gas from Myanmar's offshore Yadana field to the mainland and to neighboring Thailand.
Both international firms are majority owners of Moattama Gas Transportation Company, the pipeline company that transports the gas. MOGE owns a 15% share.
Maung also called on the EU to push for a global arms embargo on Myanmar. Brussels has frozen the sale and transfer of weapons to the country, while the United Nations earlier introduced a non-binding resolution for an arms embargo. However, the ASEAN bloc has opposed the UN resolution.
It remains to be seen whether MOGE, as well as other lucrative military-run entities, will be part of the new sanctions promised by Borrell last week during his visit to Jakarta.....'A comprehensive and balanced approach': Nabila Massrali, EU Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said she "would not speculate" on what the new sanctions will entail as they are still being discussed in Brussels.
Massrali described the bloc's measures as "a comprehensive and balanced approach," adding that: "These measures have been carefully crafted to avoid a further negative impact on the Myanmar population. They send a strong signal to the military junta that the EU holds them accountable for their actions and they impose clear costs on their behavior."
Given that EU sanctions were only imposed in March and April, she said it is "too soon to assess the impact of these measures."
In early May, a study made by 10 foreign chambers of commerce in Myanmar found that 13% of surveyed companies had ceased business activity in the country since the coup, and a third reported at least a 75% reduction in their activity.
According to some commentators, however, sanctions may have dented the military's coffers but are almost certain not to force it to its knees. After all, the military, known locally as the Tatmadaw, ruled Myanmar as a hermetic state from 1962 until 2011, when it tentatively accepted a democratic shift and allowed the NLD to form a civilian government after a resounding victory at the 2015 general election.
'No evidence' that sanctions are effective
"There is no evidence so far that the sanctions have caused any change within the military junta, which continues to use violence and imprisonment to silence democratic opposition," said Htwe Htwe Thein, an associate professor of international business at Curtin University in Perth.
In part, this is because almost none of the military's financial assets is held in EU bank accounts, and the majority of large foreign companies doing businesses in Myanmar aren't European. "Of course, there are travel and visa bans for key officials — so officials and their families cannot plan to go to Paris on holiday," Thein noted.
On the one hand, she added, EU sanctions have "symbolic effects" in supporting international condemnation of the junta's actions, and may also pressure other governments to follow suit. "Therefore, they are more effective than they seem," she said.
Yet many other nations haven't followed the EU's example. Singapore, the largest investor in Myanmar, has opposed sanctions, as have other major investors Japan and China.
Who is in charge of mediation?
Confusing matters further, the EU is ramping up its sanctions against Myanmar's junta, but at the same time, is trusting the ASEAN bloc to mediate a solution that may end up conferring legitimacy on the same people that Brussels has targeted.
The EU "should be very careful and discerning in allowing ASEAN to lead the diplomatic efforts and set agendas," said Thien.
When announcing further sanctions on a visit to Jakarta last week, EU foreign policy chief Borrell reiterated that efforts "to find a political solution for the Myanmar situation belongs to ASEAN." He added that the regional bloc's interlocutors are "doing the best possible job."
Not everyone agrees. Even Thailand, whose current ruling party and prime minister came to power through a military coup in 2014, said this week it was concerned that Myanmar's junta is not sticking to the five-point "consensus" it agreed to with ASEAN in April, which committed the military to ending violence and opening political talks with other groups.
Following the visit last week by two ASEAN envoys to Naypyitaw, the National Unity Government said, "we no longer have any faith in ASEAN's efforts, and we have no expectation."
Last weekend, pro-democracy protesters in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, set fire to ASEAN flags to show their anger at the bloc's ongoing talks with the junta.
Brussels may have backed itself into a corner by imposing sanctions, yet intimating that it will support an ASEAN-led resolution to the crisis.
'A compromised solution'
"If ASEAN finds a 'solution' it would be a very compromised solution — such as scarcely believable promises of future 'free and fair elections' and an end to military violence against pro-democracy supporters," said Thein.
"Chances are that the EU wouldn't be able to accept such false 'solutions,' given the EU's democratic values and policies. What to do then?," she added.
Indeed, if Brussels follows an ASEAN outcome that essentially accepts the junta as the legitimate government of Myanmar, then the EU will presumably have to end its sanctions. If not, and sanctions remain, Brussels will be seen as disagreeing with ASEAN's resolution.
The EU spokesperson did not directly address this issue when asked by DW.
"Violence and repression will not grant legitimacy to the military junta. Only a credible political dialogue, aimed at restoring the democratic institutions and which takes into account the will of Myanmar's people, as expressed in last November's elections, can ensure sustainable peace and a credible democracy," Massrali said, referring to the NLD's victory at a general election last year, which the military argued was rigged.
"The EU will monitor closely the developments and re-assess its policy, including in relation to sanctions, based on the situation on the ground."
Source/publisher:
"DW News" (Germany)
Date of publication:
2021-06-09
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, European Union-Burma relations - European Parliament, Sanctions, Business and the Military, ASEAN-Burma relations, Burma's economic relations with the European Union, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG)
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"China supports the implementation of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) engagement with Myanmar and hopes for the restoration of peace and stability, said its ambassador to Myanmar during a meeting with the junta leader.
Ambassador Chen Hai met Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on Saturday in Naypyitaw, before Sunday’s special China-ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting to commemorate 30 years of relations between Beijing and the regional bloc.
The meeting, which is co-chaired by Myanmar and China, is due to run until Tuesday in the Chinese city of Chongqing. The junta-appointed foreign minister U Wunna Maung Lwin reportedly attended Sunday’s meetings.
The Chinese embassy posted on Facebook that Chen stressed, as Myanmar’s neighbor, China “will continue to play a constructive role”. Its statement said: “China sincerely hopes for the earlier restoration of peace and stability in Myanmar and supports the implementation of consensus by ASEAN and Myanmar.”
A diplomatic source said the Chongqing meetings kicked off several days ago with SME (small- and medium-sized enterprises) and media forums. Myanmar attended both forums “in a low-profile way”, according to the source.
On Friday, Asean’s Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi from Brunei and Brunei’s foreign affairs minister Erywan Yusof met the senior general in Naypyitaw to discuss the special summit held in late April in Jakarta. The non-democratic, oil-rich state currently chairs ASEAN.
But Myanmar’s parallel civilian National Unity Government says it has lost faith in the regional bloc as it has failed to engage with both sides, ignoring the NUG’s approaches and only engaging with the junta.
Following the ASEAN summit on April 24, which was attended by Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, China proposed this month’s meeting in China with working-level talks on the crisis.
Chen has reportedly held several informal, secret meetings with junta leaders ahead of Saturday’s talks in Naypyitaw.
Military-control newspapers said on Sunday that meetings focused on “bilateral cooperation” and “stability” along the border, which extends over 2,000 kilometers, and the presence of numerous powerful ethnic minority armed groups along the frontier.
China’s state-controlled Global Times said Myanmar’s authorities are willing to maintain communications with China.
The newspaper posted on Facebook: “Myanmar is willing to work with ASEAN to maintain the domestic stability and coordinate implementation of relevant consensus, said Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing.”
The reference to “Myanmar leader” angered many social media users.
One user said the military chief is not the country’s leader and does not represent the people.
Another comment read: “We don’t believe in ASEAN. It is not working for Myanmar’s people but for the terrorist junta.”
Anti-regime protesters have been calling on the international community not to recognize the junta and its governing body, State Administrative Council.
However, China has not denounced the coup and prevented United Nations Security Council intervention while looking to influence ASEAN, according to observers..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2021-06-06
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, China-Burma relations, Anti-coup protesters, National Unity Government (NUG), Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Description:
"This is the US campaign for Burma’s fourth monthly On-The-Ground in Burma briefer! This month’s briefer will focus on the ongoing situations between armed groups formed in ethnic states and the military, as well as how these conflicts affect the local civilians. It also includes discussions on ASEAN’s response, policies regarding arms embargo, and war crimes, but concentrates more on analyzing the increased number of IDPs and issues in ethnic states.
This month’s briefer includes:
An analysis on what’s in store for ethnic states, policy analysis, and critiques for ASEAN
Six major policy recommendations
A story by a Rohingya refugee
An overview of IDP issues and rights abuses in each ethnic state
As the conflict escalates in Myanmar between the militias, local armed groups, and the military, so has violence and rights deprivations of those in ethnic regions. The Tatmadaw feels comfortable attacking these areas because they are far from the prying eyes of the international media. This briefer intends to bring to attention the plight of these minorities at the hands of the military..."
Source/publisher:
U.S. Campaign for Burma
Date of publication:
2021-06-02
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), National Unity Government (NUG), Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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2.51 MB
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"At least 20 people were killed by Myanmar's security forces in the Ayeyarwady river delta region on Saturday after villagers armed with catapults and crossbows fought back against troops searching for weapons, local media and residents said.
That would make it the heaviest civilian death toll in nearly two months. Some 845 people had previously been killed by the army and police since the Feb. 1 coup, according to an activist group. The junta has disputed that figure.
Reuters was unable to reach a junta spokesman on Saturday for comment on the violence at Hlayswe village in Kyonpyaw township in the Ayeyarwady Region. Reuters could not independently verify the reports.
The army has struggled to impose control since it overthrew elected leader Aug San Suu Kyi after a decade of democratic reforms had opened up the once isolated Southeast Asian state.
Clashes broke out before dawn on Saturday at Hlayswe, some 150 km (100 miles) northwest of the main city of Yangon, when soldiers said they had come to search for weapons, at least four local media outlets and a resident said.
"The people in the village only have crossbows and there are a lot of casualties on the people's side," said the resident, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution.
Khit Thit Media and the Delta News Agency said 20 civilians had been killed and more wounded. They said villagers had tried to fight back with catapults after soldiers assaulted villagers in what they said was a search for arms.
It was some of the worst violence since the coup in the Ayeyarwady region, an important rice growing area that has large populations of both the Bamar majority ethnic group, from which much of the army is drawn, and the Karen minority.
ETHNIC ARMIES
Saturday's civilian death toll appeared to be the highest since more than 80 people were reported killed in the town of Bago in early April.
Since the coup, conflicts have flared in the borderlands where some two dozen ethnic armies have been waging insurgencies for decades. The junta has also been faced by daily protests and paralyzing strikes.
The anti-junta Shwegu People's Defence Force said it had attacked a police station in northern Shwegu late on Friday together with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).
Reuters was unable to reach the KIA for comment.
In eastern Myanmar, the MBPDF (Mobye People's Defence Force) said it had clashed with the army on Friday and four "terrorist soldiers" had been killed.
Despite the turmoil, Myanmar's army has shown little sign of heeding calls from its opponents to restore democracy. This week the junta received its first high-profile foreign visitors - the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross and envoys from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing met on Friday with the two ASEAN envoys.
The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, a group of independent international experts, said it was crucial that the ASEAN envoys also meet protest leaders, members of a parallel opposition government, elected lawmakers and Suu Kyi's party.
"Failure to meet with all relevant parties risks lending legitimacy to the junta and undermines the enormous effort and sacrifice made by the people of Myanmar to resist the junta's violent and unlawful attempt to seize power," it said. (Reporting by Reuters staff; Editing by Matthew Tostevin, William Mallard and Alexander Smith)..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-06-05
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
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Description:
"Thailand is concerned at the violence in many parts of Myanmar and wants to see the implementation of steps agreed by Southeast Asian leaders with the military junta to help end the turmoil since the Feb. 1 coup, the foreign ministry said on Sunday.
Myanmar's junta has shown little sign of heeding the five point 'consensus' agreed among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in April - which calls for an end to violence, political talks and the naming of a regional special envoy.
"We have been following developments in Myanmar closely with much concern, especially incidents of violence in many parts of the country," foreign ministry spokesperson Tanee Sangrat said in a statement.
He reiterated a call for an end to the violence, the release of all detainees and the "concrete implementation of the Five-Point Consensus" as soon as possible.
The junta has failed to impose control since seizing power from elected leader Aug San Suu Kyi, who is among more than 4,500 people detained since the coup. At least 847 have been killed, a rights group says. The army disputes that figure.
Meanwhile, daily protests against the military have evolved in parts of Myanmar into armed insurrections while decade old ethnic conflicts have flared anew.
Opponents of the junta have voiced frustration at the lack of tough action by ASEAN and say the meeting of two representatives of the group with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing on Friday gave him greater legitimacy but brought no benefit.
Thailand has a longer border with Myanmar than any other country and fears the conflict could bring a flood of refugees. Its government is itself led by a former army chief who seized power in a coup before holding elections.
"Much of what Thailand has done may not have been made public as we believe that quiet and discreet diplomacy between neighbours would be more effective and in line with traditional Thai diplomacy," Tanee said..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-06-06
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Thailand-Burma relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Description:
"The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M) says that the delegation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) currently in Myanmar must uphold its mandate to meet with ALL relevant parties, including the National Unity Government and the democracy movement.
On 3 June 2021, an ASEAN delegation – including ASEAN Chair Dato Erywan Pehin Yosuf, Minister of Foreign Affairs II of Brunei Darussalam, and ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi – arrived in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, to engage in dialogue with the military junta.
SAC-M reminds the delegation that it has a mandate from the United Nations Security Council, as well as from ASEAN itself, to engage in dialogue with all relevant parties in Myanmar.
The relevant parties include the National Unity Government, the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the National League for Democracy and ethnic political parties, the Civil Disobedience Movement and the General Strike Committees, as well as the junta.
Failure to meet with all relevant parties risks lending legitimacy to the junta and undermines the enormous effort and sacrifice made by the people of Myanmar to resist the junta’s violent and unlawful attempt to seize power.
For its part, the junta has repeatedly demonstrated that its sole aim is to ensure and perpetuate its primacy as an undisputed, militarized, dictatorial force. For months it has led a concerted process of killings and terror on a scale deemed necessary to forcibly maintain the most undemocratic form of social political order, but which has only hardened the people’s resolve not to submit to military rule.
Despite having taken the lead role amongst the international community in responding to the crisis in Myanmar, ASEAN has so far failed to meaningfully address the situation. By dismissing the consensus reached at April’s ASEAN Leaders Meeting, the junta has treated ASEAN’s previous attempt to engage with contempt.
ASEAN’s wavering amounts to it being possibly an accessory to perpetrating the coup d’etat. Together, ASEAN’s vacillation and the junta’s intransigence put the lives of the people of Myanmar in further acute jeopardy, foreseeing the risk of many more deaths to come, which both ASEAN and the junta will be morally, politically and legally accountable for..."
Source/publisher:
Special Advisory Council for Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-06-04
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, ASEAN-Burma relations, National Unity Government (NUG), Burma/Myanmar's political parties
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Format :
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Size:
96.62 KB
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Topic:
Asean, confidence, expectation, meeting, NUG, press conference
Topic:
Asean, confidence, expectation, meeting, NUG, press conference
Description:
"Myanmar’s parallel National Unity Government (NUG) said it no longer has any expectation that ASEAN can help Myanmar, as the regional bloc has only engaged with the regime while neglecting it.
The comment came on Friday as two regional envoys visited the country as part of a five-point consensus agreed at the Jakarta meeting in late April, and met the junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing.
To help resolve the crisis caused by the military coup in February, the regional bloc has led the main international diplomatic effort. Four months on, the country is still reeling from the resulting chaos, such as the regime troops’ deadly crackdowns on protesters, economic stalemate and instability issues. The junta has been facing deadly resistance from ethnic armed groups as well as guerrilla-style civilian resistance forces across the country.
In April, the ASEAN leaders reached a five-point consensus, including urging Myanmar to accept the appointment of a special envoy to engage with all the parties and to grant access to humanitarian assistance from ASEAN.
After the Jakarta meeting, the Myanmar coup leader said the agreements will be carried out only when stability has returned to Myanmar.
During an online press conference on Friday, the NUG’s Deputy Foreign Minister U Moe Zaw Oo said the NUG had asked the ASEAN secretariat “many times” what ASEAN would do if the coup leader, who had consented to the bloc’s five-points consensus, does not comply with the agreement. The NUG was not invited to the April meeting despite its request.
“But there has been no response yet,” he said.
The deputy minister said ASEAN must engage with both sides, saying ASEAN at the moment is not engaging with the NUG, but only with the junta leaders.
“Frankly speaking, we no longer have any faith in ASEAN’s efforts, and we have no expectation,” he said, adding that it looks like “ASEAN does not have a solid plan for their credibility.”
On the same day in Naypyitaw, ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi and Erywan Yusof, Brunei’s foreign affairs minister, met with Myanmar coup leader Min Aung Hlaing. They discussed cooperating with Myanmar on humanitarian issues, according to the military’s mouthpiece Myawady TV.
The junta also raised the issue of violence in the country and blamed the NUG and the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Union Parliament) (CRPH), both of which it has declared treasonous.
During the press conference, the NUG stressed that it had nothing to do with ongoing explosions at schools or the killing of junta-appointed general administrative officials in urban areas.
U Moe Zaw Oo said, “We disagree with violent acts, and we don’t commit such terror acts against civilians. The NUG is not related to such violence.”
The NUG’s deputy minister of defense, Daw Khin Ma Ma Myo, said the NUG and CRPH are being accused of destructive acts that are believed to have been committed by military thugs..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2021-06-05
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, National Unity Government (NUG), Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Description:
"The Elders today called on the international community to intensify pressure on the military leadership in Myanmar to prevent the country descending into endemic violence and state failure.
The UN, ASEAN and other regional and international actors must urgently step up their level of engagement to prevent consolidation of the coup, and give their full backing to a return to democratic, civilian rule.
The Elders warned that the cost of inaction is high, as can be seen from other protracted conflicts worldwide and their humanitarian consequences. Although international media attention on Myanmar is receding, state violence, repression and coercion continue to be systematically deployed against civilians who stand up against the coup.
More than 800 people have been killed by security forces since 1 February, and violence is escalating in many parts of the country. The impact of the crisis on health, education and other basic services has been devastating, and the economy is on the verge of collapse. Teachers who have been striking as part of the Civil Disobedience Movement have reportedly faced suspensions and threats by the military ahead of today’s deadline for public schools to reopen, risking further tensions and violence.
Mary Robinson, Chair of The Elders and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said:
“Myanmar is currently on a dangerous path towards state failure. The international community must stand firm in opposition to the military coup. Allowing the coup to succeed through inaction and disregard would further undermine the international rules-based order upon which global stability depends. Regional states and international organisations, notably the UN, should use all the tools at their disposal to convince the military of the urgent need for constructive dialogue between all relevant parties, as the only way out of the crisis."
The Elders noted that divisions within the UN Security Council continue to impede concerted action, and they urged its Permanent Members to enable the Council to fulfil its obligation under the United Nations Charter to maintain global peace and security.
Within the region, more than a month has passed since the ASEAN summit in Jakarta on 24 April, without visible progress on implementation of the commitments in the five-point plan. ASEAN must hold Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the coup leader, accountable for his adherence to the commitments agreed in Jakarta, without preconditions.
Ban Ki-moon, Deputy Chair of The Elders and former UN Secretary-General, said:
"Unfortunately, ASEAN is failing to live up to its mandate and responsibilities. It must now step up and play the crucial role expected of it by countries around the world in the resolution of this crisis. A visit by a high-level ASEAN delegation, to initiate dialogue with all parties, is long overdue. Myanmar’s regional neighbours have the levers in their hands to change the trajectory of this crisis. Now is the time to use them."
The Elders warned that the State Administrative Council established following the coup does not have the legitimacy or authority to govern Myanmar. The threat by the military-appointed Union Election Commission to dissolve the National League for Democracy, which won an overwhelming majority in elections last November, only diminishes the junta’s legitimacy even further and exposes their fear of Myanmar’s people.
The Elders reaffirmed their solidarity with the people of Myanmar, including those living outside its borders, in their quest for a better future based on democratic freedom, inclusion and prosperity..."
Source/publisher:
The Elders
Date of publication:
2021-06-01
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, ASEAN-Burma relations, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights and international relations
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Format :
pdf
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354.92 KB
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Topic:
Myanmar coup | Refugees
Topic:
Myanmar coup | Refugees
Description:
"As the ASEAN Secretary-General and a representative of the ASEAN Chair, Brunei, are expected to visit Myanmar this week, parliamentarians across Southeast Asia urge them to hold the military accountable for its blatant disregard of the five-point consensus, and to meet with all major stakeholders in Myanmar, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said today.
“More than one month since the ASEAN leaders’ meeting on Myanmar, the military has merely carried on with its brutal crackdown against the people,” said Charles Santiago, a Malaysian Member of Parliament (MP) and Chair of APHR. “How many more innocent lives must be lost before ASEAN decides to move beyond words and actually put in place binding measures and lay out consequences for the military’s brutality?”
This visit must also be the occasion for ASEAN to meet with State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint, who have been in detention since the military coup on 1 February, APHR said.
“If ASEAN only meets with the military it risks, once again, playing into the junta’s public relations exercise and granting them legitimacy, when all they deserve is admonition,” Santiago added.
To have a genuine and inclusive dialogue with all parties, ASEAN’s delegation must also meet with representatives of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs).
“The delegation must make it clear to Min Aung Hlaing that constructive dialogue cannot be possible while political prisoners remain behind bars. It must demand to see them and urge their release. Otherwise, this trip to Myanmar may be completely worthless,” said Kasit Piromya, a former MP of Thailand and APHR Board Member.
The visit comes more than one month after an ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting was held, at which a Five-Point Consensus was agreed to by all who attended, including Myanmar Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
As the Myanmar army continues its attacks and airstrikes, APHR also urges ASEAN Member States to help address the immediate needs of displaced persons inside the country and protect all persons seeking asylum. The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates that 61,000 persons have been internally displaced and over 12,000 refugees have fled Myanmar since 1 February.
“Not only is the military committing serious human rights violations, but they are causing a humanitarian and refugee crisis. ASEAN must urge the military to grant all humanitarian organizations and agencies inside Myanmar and across borders immediate, unfettered and unimpeded access to to all those in need,” Piromya said..."
Source/publisher:
ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR)
Date of publication:
2021-06-02
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, ASEAN-Burma relations, Human Rights and international relations, UNHCR (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups.
Language:
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Sub-title:
Punitive sanctions policies should be recalibrated
Description:
"International calls for the restoration of democracy in strategically located Myanmar obscure an important divide between that country's neighbors and the West.
The sanctions-centered approach of the United States and the European Union has sought to punitively isolate Myanmar, while neighboring countries favor a policy of constructive engagement with the military junta.
After a gradual, decadelong democratization process, Myanmar's military, or Tatmadaw, seized power on Feb. 1 and began cracking down on those peacefully protesting the coup. The continuing unrest has carried important international implications, including the flight of political dissidents and ordinary refugees to neighboring countries.
The cross-border impacts explain why neighbors view engagement as essential, including urging Myanmar's military rulers to address the domestic unrest through political reconciliation.
Myanmar's land frontiers are porous, with cross-border ethnic linkages with communities in India and Thailand making the transboundary movement of people common. Trade, investment and counterinsurgency cooperation also link Myanmar with the countries that surround it.
Can anyone imagine the U.S. seeking to isolate and squeeze its southern neighbor Mexico? U.S. President Joe Biden, in fact, is relying on the Mexican government to address the present border crisis precipitated by the tide of mainly Central American refugees trying to enter the U.S. since he took office.
Likewise, it is inconceivable that Myanmar's immediate neighbors, saddled with a refugee influx since the coup, would embrace the punitive approach adopted by the U.S. and the EU. Yet, the Biden administration initiated a sanctions campaign against Myanmar without consultations with neighboring countries.
There is truth in the common diplomatic view that the farther a country is from Myanmar, the more likely it will favor a punitive approach, while those nearby will keep the channels of communication open through calibrated engagement. The history of sanctions shows that punitive actions have rarely worked without some form of engagement.
In this light, the presence of junta leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing at the Apr. 24 in-person Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Jakarta -- and the carefully nuanced summit statement on Myanmar that emphasized the "ASEAN family" -- represented a rebuff to the U.S.-led approach to isolate Myanmar.
According to the five-point consensus that emerged from the summit, ASEAN will mediate to help resolve the crisis. This is, however, easier said than done. ASEAN, for example, has failed to resolve the crisis in Thailand, where the leader of the 2014 coup remains ensconced in power -- in civilian garb -- by cracking down on pro-democracy protesters, including using a feared lese-majeste law to imprison those who insult the royal family.
More broadly, the retreat of the Myanmar spring exemplifies how democracy is under siege around the world. The wave of rollback of democracies highlights the growing threat from a fusion of autocratic politics and crony, state-guided capitalism.
Today, all the countries of continental Southeast Asia -- Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam -- are under authoritarian rule, like their giant northern neighbor, China. In fact, only two of ASEAN's 10 members are true democracies with judicial independence and free media.
Still, Myanmar's generals are discovering the hard way that rolling back democratic freedoms once people take them as their right carries enduring challenges. Although Myanmar had been under military rule for 50 of its 73 years since independence, the continuing protests show that many of its citizens are unwilling to accept a return to military rule.
Only the military can return Myanmar to the path of democratization. After all, it was the military that voluntarily ushered in the country's democratic transition that began in 2011. It is thus critical for outside states, including in the West, to maintain lines of communication with Myanmar's top generals.
One of the world's most ethnically diverse countries, Myanmar has long been an easy sanctions target because it has remained a weak, divided state torn by ethnic insurgencies. Its failure to construct an inclusive national identity has allowed old ethnic rivalries to fester, stifling the resource-rich country's potential.
As past experience has shown, however, an uncompromisingly harsh approach toward Myanmar has had the perverse effect of weakening America's hand while strengthening China's.
China values Myanmar as a strategic gateway to the Indian Ocean. Like India, Myanmar has long complained about the flow of Chinese arms to guerrilla groups, accusing Beijing of backing several of them as levers against it. The nationalistic military is wary of reliance on China. But international isolation could leave it with no choice.
As Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen told Nikkei's Future of Asia 2021 conference earlier this month: "If I don't rely on China, who will I rely on? If I don't ask China, who am I to ask?" Cambodia is a cautionary tale of how international isolation pushes an economically vulnerable nation into China's arms. Myanmar could be next, unless the U.S. recalibrates its sanctions policy.
The international divide over how to deal with Myanmar also represents a division between Western and Asian values. In contrast to the West's interventionist impulse and democratic evangelism, the Asian way of standing up for one's principles and beliefs does not extend to imposing them on others through coercive activism.
Today, with little prospect that the West could engineer a color revolution in Myanmar, friendly conversations with that country's generals to persuade them to halt their crackdown and release political prisoners are likely to make more headway toward influencing future events than the current heavy-handed approach..."
Source/publisher:
"Nikkei Asian Review" (Japan)
Date of publication:
2021-06-01
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, ASEAN-Burma relations, Sanctions - general, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Topic:
Myanmar/Burma, China, ASEAN, sanctions, pariah states, authoritarian transitions, Aung San Suu Kyi
Topic:
Myanmar/Burma, China, ASEAN, sanctions, pariah states, authoritarian transitions, Aung San Suu Kyi
Description:
"Abstract: Myanmar’s liberalizing reforms since late 2010 have effectively shed the country’s decades-long “pariah state” status. This article evaluates competing explanations for why Myanmar’s leaders made the strategic decision to pursue reform and opening. We examine whether the strategic decision was motivated by fears of sudden regime change, by socialization into the norms of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), or by the geopolitics of overreliance on China. Drawing on newly available materials and recent field interviews in Myanmar, we demonstrate how difficult it is for international actors to persuade a pariah state through sanctions or engagement, given the pariah regime’s intense focus on maintaining power. However, reliance on a more powerful neighbour can reach a point where costs to national autonomy become unacceptable, motivating reforms for the sake of economic and diplomatic diversification.....Acknowledgments: We gratefully acknowledge the participation of interviewees in Yangon, Naypyidaw, Seoul, and Washington, DC. Research assistance was provided by Andrew Choi, Esther Pau Sann Cing, Li Xuan, Li Zimeng, Wang Qichao, Wu Shangwei, Zhang Xiaorui, and Zhou Xin. We also wish to thank the editor, three anonymous reviewers, and participants at the 2014 Murdoch-Macau Colloquium on Political Change and Governance in Asia, whose comments greatly improved this article. We thank the Asan Institute for Policy Studies for supporting Leif-Eric Easley’s research travel to Myanmar in 2014. Research for this article was funded in part by a grant from the University of Macau (SRG2013-00057-FSS). For over two decades, Myanmar suffered the reputation of an international pariah. After the 1988 coup that inaugurated 22 years of military rule under the State Law and Order Restoration Council / State Peace and Development Council (SLORC/SPDC),1
Myanmar incurred international condemnation and sanctions for human rights violations, including annulling the National League for Democracy’s (NLD) electoral victory in 1990; detaining opposition leaders, including NLD General Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi; killing civilians during military campaigns against armed ethnic
minority groups; violently suppressing civil protests in the 2007 “Saffron Revolution”; and muzzling free speech and the press.2
The junta appeared unmoved by sanctions and international exhortations to pursue reform and opening. Its apparent steps toward ending military rule under the 2003 “Roadmap to Discipline-Flourishing Democracy” were often marred by process irregularities, lack of inclusiveness and transparency, and restrictions
on and sometimes violent repression of opposition parties. Though the SPDC held landmark elections for a civilian government in November 2010, supporters of democracy were not encouraged when the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) swept the polls and elevated Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein to the presidency.
Many were surprised, however, when Thein Sein initiated extensive
reforms in 2011: releasing political prisoners, loosening media and civil
society restrictions, and allowing Aung San Suu Kyi and other opposition members to run for parliament. Myanmar’s pariah status quickly abated as a parade of foreign leaders visited the country and eased sanctions. In November 2015, Myanmar’s first general election under nominally civilian rule saw the NLD defeat the USDP in a landslide, marking a new era in Myanmar’s politics.3
The manner in which Myanmar pursued transformative reforms raises
important questions. Why did the SPDC pursue reform and opening when it did? What motivated the strategic decision to pursue transformative policies? Several scholars have argued that domestic factors drove Myanmar’s reforms. Jones maintains that the junta’s co-optation of ethnic militias allowed it to resume a democratization process it had begun and aborted in 1990 and again in 1996.4 Bünte, along with Croissant and Kamerling, emphasizes
the aging SPDC leaders’ desire to manage succession politics through institutionalization.5 Roger Lee Huang argues that the junta sought to retain political control but did not foresee the extent of reforms under Thein Sein, an assessment shared by MacDonald.6 Other scholarship emphasizes international factors as primary catalysts
for reform. One argument is that Myanmar’s leaders implemented domestic reforms to pursue rapprochement with the European Union, the United States, and other sanctions-imposing countries, and to counterbalance China’s growing political and economic influence.7
Another possible factor behind Myanmar’s transition is the socializing role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and more generally, Myanmar’s desire for international prestige.8
While more than one of these factors may have motivated Myanmar’s reforms, an “all of the above” answer leaves the country’s political transformation over-determined and under-examined.
This article weighs the theoretical logic and empirical evidence for three competing explanations for Myanmar’s strategic decision to pursue transformative policies: first, junta leaders’ desire to maintain power and avoid sudden regime change; second, socialization into ASEAN norms; and third, the desire to reduce China’s political and economic influence over Myanmar.9 We base our research on numerous interviews with key informants in or engaged with Myanmar, as well as on primary documents. We find that
while multiple factors motivated Myanmar’s strategic decision, the most important driver was concern about China’s growing influence.
To frame the analysis, the next section defines pariah states and what it means to make a strategic decision to pursue transformative policies and exit pariahdom. We then briefly outline our interview methodology before discussing the timing of Myanmar’s transformative reforms. Subsequent sections review theoretical bases and empirical support for each of the three competing explanations. In the conclusion, we summarize our findings and discuss possible implications for other pariah states and for Myanmar’s political future..."
Source/publisher:
Pacific Affairs (Canada)
Date of publication:
2016-09-00
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, ASEAN-Burma relations, China-Burma relations, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Burma's economic relations with China, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Articles on the NLD, Military History, Political History
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"The headline of the Jakarta Post’s editorial last Wednesday said it best: ‘ASEAN, hurry up’.
It’s been a month since ASEAN’s heads of government met in an informal summit in Jakarta to discuss their collective response to the February coup in Myanmar.
It was an achievement that, despite the presence of the coup leader Min Aung Hlaing, the group was able to come to a five-point consensus. Now, observers — and those who continue to face a brutal crackdown — are getting impatient to see follow-through on the plan.
By inviting junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing to April’s mini-summit, ASEAN accepted the risk of legitimising the junta in exchange for its engagement with an ASEAN-brokered dialogue and aid plan. Like clockwork the junta has been using the general’s visit to Jakarta as fodder for its propaganda.
It would be a travesty if the April ASEAN summit gave a veneer of legitimacy to the coup leaders without leading to concrete follow-through on ASEAN’s five-point ‘consensus.’ The most urgent — and one would think the most straightforward — element of this plan was the appointment of a Special Envoy for the ASEAN Chair, who would spearhead a process of dialogue between the junta and the deposed government and coordinate ASEAN’s delivery of humanitarian aid as the Myanmar economy collapses.
That envoy has yet to be named. Commentators have called on Brunei, which holds the ASEAN Chair this year, to cut through the bureaucracy and make the appointment quickly; the Jakarta Post’s editors labelled the delay ‘ridiculous’.
It is appropriate that such calls are being heard from Jakarta. Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi have prosecuted Indonesia’s natural leadership role within ASEAN ably throughout the crisis. But the fact is that their eagerness for action is not matched by other quarters in ASEAN, as Barry Desker explains in the first of two lead articles this week.
Whereas ‘Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore [have] emphasised the unacceptability of the use of force against unarmed civilians’, Desker writes, ‘Thailand and Vietnam, supported by Cambodia and Laos, have advocated acceptance of the Myanmar fait accompli’, invoking ASEAN’s tradition of non-interference.
Because ‘ASEAN’s influence lies in its capacity to persuade Myanmar’s military authorities, not the presence of rules which could be enforced’, that apparent divergence is bad news. ASEAN’s ability to exert its influence is only as strong as the internal consensus it can forge on the need for change in Myanmar.
As was observed in the aftermath of the coup in February, the same goes for the international response more broadly. Unanimity is the only weapon in the arsenal. The United Nations is largely toothless given the protection China and Russia will offer the junta at the Security Council; economic sanctions and arms embargoes, meanwhile, have limited utility because Myanmar’s biggest trading partners and arms suppliers aren’t interested in them.
‘The reality’, Desker reminds us, ‘is that ASEAN remains the only game in town.’ Its five-point consensus is the only viable set of lowest-common-denominator demands on which ASEAN, Asian and western democracies, and potentially even China, can and should collectively pressure the junta.
If the ASEAN-process doesn’t get results, there are alternative options, but likewise these are dicey. In a second feature article this week, Greg Poling lays out the grounds for scepticism about ASEAN’s ability to shift the facts on the ground in Myanmar, arguing that the momentum from the April summit has quickly dissipated and that member states and ASEAN partners need to get creative in finding pressure points independent of ASEAN processes. ‘That would not be an assault on ASEAN’s centrality, but a recognition of its limitations’, argues Poling.
No matter what form diplomacy takes, if a partial or whole reversal of the coup isn’t negotiated then things could unravel even further within Myanmar. The anti-coup National Unity Government has linked up with the ethnic organisations that operate in the country’s periphery, raising the prospect of the continuing strife between the Tatmadaw and ethnic armies being augmented by terrorist tactics in urban areas. Myanmar’s economy is in freefall and may be a source of economic refugees as well as those fleeing violence.
The failure of diplomacy to arrest Myanmar’s downwards spiral could have very serious implications for Southeast Asia’s regional architecture as well. It was immediately apparent in the aftermath of the February coup how much was at stake for ASEAN’s relevance and credibility. As violence continues on the streets of Myanmar, this remains the case. Brunei will host the ASEAN Regional Forum in August and the East Asia Summit in November. Having a coup leader at the table whose soldiers are gunning down civilians in the streets would not be a good look.
Amid the Myanmar crisis we’re seeing a familiar but increasingly stark set of gaps — between ASEAN member states’ interests and ambitions in the international arena; and between what many expect of ASEAN and what its institutional processes can deliver.
Within those gaps lie considerable hazards for the ability of Southeast Asia’s homegrown regional association to safeguard its centrality in regional affairs. That will only be tested more as great power rivalries escalate. ASEAN doesn’t have a moment to waste.
The EAF Editorial Board is located in the Crawford School of Public Policy, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of publication:
2021-05-24
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"ASEAN’s capacity to spearhead a collective response to a regional crisis was tested at the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting (ALM) in Jakarta on 24 April following the February coup in Myanmar. Facing backlash for its decision to invite Myanmar’s military junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing to the event, the stakes were high for ASEAN to find a unified stance on Myanmar’s rogue behaviour. But it was Indonesia’s leadership that made possible the resulting five-point consensus.
Hours before the release of the ALM chairman’s statement, Indonesian President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo held a press conference outlining Indonesia’s position on Myanmar, which resembled the final draft of ASEAN’s collective statement. Several differences between Indonesia and the ALM chairman’s statement stand out.
First, Jokowi conveyed that the situation in Myanmar is ‘unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue’. The watered-down ALM statement stated a ‘deep concern on the situation in the country, including reports of fatalities and escalation of violence’.
Second, Jokowi called on the military government in Myanmar to cease its use of violence, while the ALM statement made no direct reference to the junta.
Third, Jokowi called for political prisoners to be released. The ALM chairman’s statement worded this as: ‘we also heard calls for the release of all political prisoners including foreigners’.
One of the biggest shortcomings of the ASEAN five-point consensus is the absence of a call for the junta to honour the results of the 2020 general elections that the National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a landslide. While Jokowi emphasised the Myanmar people as Indonesia’s priority, General Min Aung Hlaing’s inclusion in the ALM dashes any hope of restoring a pre-coup state of affairs. The ALM chairman’s statement confirms this.
The ALM was convened on 19 March — five weeks after Jokowi called for an ASEAN special summit to discuss the political crisis in Myanmar. While the meeting was being arranged, the Myanmar military’s violent crackdown against protesters and civilians continued, with at least 739 deaths and 3331 arrests as of 21 April.
ASEAN’s collective stance on the Myanmar political crisis differs from its response during Myanmar’s 2007 Saffron Revolution. When anti-government protests grew in number across Myanmar in September 2007, the military government responded violently, culminating in an ASEAN chairmanship statement three weeks later. The statement singled out the Myanmar military government and expressed revulsion for what had transpired.
Yet despite Indonesia’s best efforts, the ALM chairman’s statement is less assertive than it was in 2007. Naypyidaw’s detachment from ASEAN after forfeiting its chairmanship position in 2006 encouraged ASEAN and its key member states at the time — Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines — to ensure that Myanmar ameliorated its human rights record before it was trusted with further engagement in ASEAN-led processes.
Aside from the flaws in the ALM statement, there are also challenges to its implementation. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has managed to find common ground among ASEAN member states on the ongoing political crisis in Myanmar — first at an Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (IAMM) through shuttle diplomacy and subsequently in preparation for the ALM.
The night before the ALM, Marsudi hosted a working dinner with ASEAN counterparts in making final preparations for the leaders’ meeting. Though the leaders of Thailand, the Philippines and Laos were absent from the ALM, a consensus was reached on how to prevent the situation in Myanmar from destabilising the wider region.
Now that ASEAN has articulated a regional response to the situation in Myanmar, it needs to ensure that the junta adheres to the first two points of its five-point consensus — halting the violence and facilitating constructive dialogue between concerned parties. The other three points also require continuous commitment from ASEAN including Myanmar to appoint an ASEAN special envoy, facilitate humanitarian assistance and advance dialogue.
While the implementation of ASEAN’s five-point consensus is still too early to assess, ASEAN must display a tangible commitment to its framework for peace and stability in the region. This is where Indonesia’s role and leadership within ASEAN should be nurtured.
As the regional powerhouse in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is no stranger to advancing initiatives to strengthen political stability in the region. These include former president Megawati Sukarnoputri’s leadership to finalise the ASEAN Political-Security Community, former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s incorporation of democratic principles in Indonesian foreign relations through the Bali Democracy Forum and President Jokowi’s adoption of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.
In a climate where Indonesia and ASEAN depend on one another to preserve peace and stability in Southeast Asia, ASEAN needs to remain the cornerstone of Indonesian foreign policy — no matter who its president is.
Gibran Mahesa Drajat is a Doctoral Researcher at the Graduate School of Global Studies, Sophia University, Tokyo, and a Lecturer of International Relations at President University, Cikarang, Indonesia..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of publication:
2021-05-21
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Indonesia-Burma relations, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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"The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced additional sanctions against 16 individuals and 10 entities under the Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations in response to the military’s ongoing brutal repression of the people of Myanmar and their refusal to take steps to restore democracy.
These actions are taken in coordination with the United Kingdom and the United States, and align with measures recently imposed by the European Union. They are also consistent with our G7 commitment to continue to take action should the Tatmadaw fail to reverse its course. This latest step demonstrates our unwavering determination to hold the Tatmadaw accountable and help restore democracy as demanded by the people of Myanmar. Canada will continue to take additional actions, in coordination with our partners, should the Tatmadaw refuse to reverse course. Canada urges other countries to impose similar measures, including arms embargos.
For more than 100 days, the people of Myanmar have demonstrated impressive resilience and determination in the face of a violent military regime. Canada stands in solidarity with the people of Myanmar and their desire for a peaceful, inclusive and democratic future.
We acknowledge and appreciate the central role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in responding to the crisis in Myanmar. Canada is ready to work with ASEAN to advance the swift implementation of the 5-point consensus. We urge the Tatmadaw to cooperate unconditionally and immediately with ASEAN and the UN..."
Source/publisher:
Global Affairs Canada
Date of publication:
2021-05-17
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Canada-Burma relations, Sanctions - general, ASEAN-Burma relations, Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, Business and the Military, Sanctions
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"Australia has been criticised for not doing enough in reaction to Myanmar’s coup. It has been urged to impose targeted sanctions and be more active in its diplomacy through face-to-face meetings and shuttle diplomacy. It has been described as weak, slow and ineffective and accused of prioritising trade over human rights.
But does this criticism match the reality of what Australia has done?
Australia has put its name on statements condemning the coup in international bodies including the United Nations. Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne has issued six formal statements on Myanmar since the start of February, including unequivocal language calling for the National Assembly to reconvene consistent with election results. She has spoken to more than 20 counterparts about the situation in Myanmar. Defence cooperation has been suspended (Australia already has an arms embargo on Myanmar) and development aid has been redirected to immediate humanitarian needs. As the situation has worsened, with the military using violence to suppress protests, additional humanitarian aid has been pledged.
Australia has not minced its words. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: ‘We have been a longstanding supporter of Myanmar’s democratic transition, including the election in November … We all hope for what I know the Myanmar people want to achieve’. Australia’s most senior diplomat Frances Adamson has called the military coup ‘catastrophic’.
There is no doubt about Australia’s position on the coup. Australia believes that a well-governed and stable Myanmar is in the interests of Australia and the region. Other countervailing interests are not significant enough for Australia to prioritise them over human rights concerns. Trade is unlikely to have an impact given Myanmar only just makes it into Australia’s top 50 export destinations. The situation of detained Australian Professor Sean Turnell, an economic adviser to ousted State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, has not stopped Australia from speaking out despite fears it might be affected by hostage diplomacy.
The question for Australia is a tactical one: what is most likely to improve the situation for the people of Myanmar? Given that Australia’s reaction has been clear and unequivocal from day one, further condemnation is unlikely to have any greater effect. There are three areas where criticism seems justified.
First, while Australia already has some targeted sanctions on Myanmar, it would have been useful to have the option to be able to impose more. Unfortunately, Australia cannot do so easily or quickly under its current system. In this, Australia lags behind, as was shown recently when it could not coordinate with other countries in imposing sanctions relating to human rights abuses in Xinjiang. A parliamentary inquiry recently recommended Australia change this by introducing new Magnitsky-style laws, and draft legislation is expected to be tabled this year.
Second, while Australia’s long-term policy is to recognise states, not governments, this is no bar to communicating with the parallel Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) government, as other countries have reportedly done.
Third, Australia should have immediately extended the visas of Myanmar students who fear to return. While students were reportedly being assessed on a case-by-case basis, there would have been no downside to announcing a blanket extension as an interim measure, as finally happened in early May.
Australia has decided the best tactical approach is to work with ASEAN. A number of ASEAN states are putting pressure on Myanmar, particularly Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. In a departure from its usual diplomatic style, the bloc convened a special summit to deal with the Myanmar issue, with Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo staking political capital on its success. The summit came up with a five-point plan including the immediate cessation of violence, ASEAN provision of humanitarian assistance and a visit by an ASEAN special envoy to meet all parties and facilitate mediation of a dialogue process. In these circumstances, it is reasonable for Australia to frame the question as how it can support ASEAN’s efforts.
What is striking in the case of Myanmar’s coup is that nobody thinks it is a good idea: not ASEAN, China, Japan, South Korea, the United States, the EU nor the G7. Some, like Russia and India, have chosen not to condemn, but there is nothing to suggest they welcome the coup. In this case, there is no conflict between those who focus on human rights and democracy and those who focus on stability and development, all of which have been jeopardised.
Junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing is friendless in his attempts to maintain power by trashing Myanmar’s constitution. But it has been hard for any external forces to have influence given limited leverage. If a regime does not care about international condemnation, it can brazen it out.
Myanmar’s coup is a reminder of the limits of any external influence, not just Australia’s. This should be kept in mind through any consideration of the impact Australia could have..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of publication:
2021-05-14
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Australia-Burma relations, ASEAN-Burma relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"The brave people of Myanmar and the National Unity Government of Myanmar greatly appreciate the International Communities from around the world, and especially our ASEAN brothers and sisters for standing with us at this critical moment in the history of Myanmar.
While the fate of our country is in the hands of our people, strong and sustained support from the international community is absolutely crucial to our success. Now, more than ever, the people of Myanmar need your continued friendship and support. I am proud to serve as the Minister of International Cooperation and Spokesperson for the
National Unity Government, as I was when previously serving as Myanmar's Special Envoy to the United Nations. It is my job to provide you with the information and assistance that you need to support the people of Myanmar. I am always at your service. The duty of a nation’s military is to defend and protect its people. However, under the
command of Min Aung Hlaing, the supposed guardians of our nation are doing precisely the opposite of their duty and continue arbitrarily murdering and detaining without cause the brave and innocent civilians of Myanmar on a daily and hourly basis. The people of
Myanmar unanimously consider Min Aung Hlaing and those who report to him as terrorists. It has been over 102 days since Min Aung Hlaing and his gunmen instigated this illegal coup d ’etat and took the nation hostage. Since that day..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-04-14
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), ASEAN-Burma relations, International Relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Rupert Colville
Description:
"More than 100 days after the coup in Myanmar, the military authorities are showing no sign of letting up in their brutal crackdown on opponents in a bid to consolidate their hold on power. At the same time, there is no weakening of the resolve of the civil disobedience movement and other facets of opposition to the coup leaders.
As of 10 May, credible sources indicate that the security forces, using unnecessary, disproportionate and lethal force to suppress demonstrations and other forms of public participation, have killed at least 782 individuals since the coup on 1 February. While much of the world's attention has been on the number of peaceful protesters and bystanders killed by the security forces, the authorities continue to commit other gross human rights violations against the people of Myanmar.
There are daily raids on private homes and offices, and more than 3,740 people are currently in detention. We are deeply alarmed that the whereabouts and fate of hundreds of these individuals are unknown. These are situations that may amount to enforced disappearances.
Of those in custody, the vast majority have not been brought before a judge, while most of the 86 people prosecuted thus far have been tried in secret, with limited or no access to any form of legal counsel. Military tribunals and courts martial have been established in several townships in which martial law was declared. At least 25 individuals have received the death sentence to date – some 20 of whom were tried in absentia.
Over the past month, the military leadership has issued over 1,561 arrest warrants targeting civil society activists, trade unionists, journalists, academics, public personalities and online voices, so driving the vast majority of them underground. To intensify pressure, the military authorities have resorted to taking relatives of wanted people into custody to force them to turn themselves in to the police.
The military authorities are also stepping up their efforts to pressure civil servants back to work. In recent weeks, the coup leadership has dismissed, removed, or suspended more than 3,000 civil servants – nearly 70 per cent of those targeted have been women. Those suspended include 990 university professors, researchers and assistants who in the last few days have been suspended for failing to report to work. There are reports that up to 11,000 more educational workers were suspended on Monday.
We are also deeply concerned about the situation of people fleeing persecution, especially human rights defenders and journalists.
As the armed conflicts between the Tatmadaw and some of the ethnic armed organizations, particularly in Kachin and Kayin states, have intensified, people seeking protection are being forced to consider seeking safety outside the country. When they do so, they should receive such protection and support from Myanmar's neighbours.
It is clear that there needs to be greater international involvement to prevent the human rights situation in Myanmar from deteriorating further. Despite the five-point plan agreed at the ASEAN leaders' meeting on 24 April, the Myanmar military leadership has shown no sign of abiding by it. We call on ASEAN to react quickly and to intensify its actions to ensure the military keeps to these commitments and to hold them accountable for failing to do so..."
Source/publisher:
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Geneva)
Date of publication:
2021-05-11
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN human rights documents on Myanmar, Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights and international relations, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Various groups, Armed conflict in Karen State - general articles and reports, Armed conflict in Kachin State - general articles, ASEAN-Burma relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Myanmar's ruling military, which is facing nationwide protests against the coup that removed the elected government three months ago, said on Friday it would not agree to a visit by a Southeast Asian envoy until it could establish stability.
Leaders of countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reached consensus on five points at a summit on the Myanmar crisis last month, which was attended by the architect of the Feb. 1 coup, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
These included an end to violence, dialogue between the military and its opponents, allowing humanitarian help, and permitting a visit by a special ASEAN envoy.
"Right now, we are prioritising the security and stability of the country," Major Kaung Htet San, a spokesman for the military council, told a televised briefing.
"Only after we achieve a certain level of security and stability, we will cooperate regarding that envoy."
The junta would consider suggestions made at the summit if they were helpful to its visions for the country, he added.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the coup, which unleashed anger amongst a public unwilling to tolerate a return to military rule after five decades of economic mismanagement and underdevelopment.
Protests and marches have taken place on most days, the latest a big pro-democracy demonstration on Friday in the commercial capital Yangon, and smaller protests in at least 10 other places around the country.
At least 769 people have been killed and nearly 3,700 detained in the military's crackdown on opponents, according to an advocacy group monitoring the crisis.
The junta says it is battling terrorists. On Friday, spokesman Kaung Htet San said more arrests of instigators of violence had been made than were publicly announced.
The April 24 ASEAN meeting in Jakarta was hailed as a success by those who attended, but analysts and activists remain skeptical that Myanmar's generals will implement the five-point plan, which had no timeframe nor any mention of releasing political prisoners, including ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Kaung Htet San said ASEAN leaders had provided positive suggestions to Min Aung Hlaing, but whether or not they would be followed depended on the situation in Myanmar, and if their ideas were "helpful to our further visions".....CONFLICTS REIGNITED:The prospect of stability anytime soon in Myanmar appears bleak, with a reigniting of conflict between the military and ethnic minority insurgents in the borderlands and minor bombings and explosions now taking place regularly in its main cities.
The junta says it is fighting rogue elements of ethnic armies and all parties remain committed to a nationwide ceasefire. It has blamed the spate of urban bombings on supporters of Suu Kyi's ousted government.
A recently formed National Unity Government, a coalition of anti-military groups, says the junta orchestrated the bombings as a pretext to crush its opponents.
Two local media outlets on Friday reported that fighters from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) attacked and killed 30 Myanmar troops as they tried to travel on a river, citing local people and a KIA source.
Kaung Htet San said violence and armed conflicts would be dealt with by the military "in a suitable way".
The junta has for months limited access to the internet in an effort to disrupt the anti-coup movement and this week banned satellite television receivers of outside broadcasts. read more
Kaung Htet San said the military respected the public's right to access information, but overseas-based social networks were being used to share material that was "very alarming for national security".
He also said security would be intensified to protect strategic gas pipelines, following an attack on security personnel at one location nearly Mandalay this week.
Myanmar has twin oil and gas pipelines that stretch across the country to China, a country many in Myanmar believe enabled generals to amass vast personal wealth from natural resources, at a time of crippling sanctions and international isolation.
China has said it takes no sides in the conflict and wants a stable Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-05-07
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG)
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Sub-title:
Regional bloc's controversial summit with military leader could provide a template for UN agencies also to engage the killer junta
Description:
"At first it appeared that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had summoned Myanmar coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to Jakarta to read him the riot act.
Before the extraordinary summit, leaders of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines had condemned the lethal violence unleashed since the February 1 coup, with at least 755 protesters killed by the Myanmar police and military, and called for the release of all political prisoners, now numbering nearly 4,000 including elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
But after the military leader attended the April 24 meeting, he left with what many viewed as a mere slap on the wrist. ASEAN agreed on a five-point plan for resolving Myanmar’s crisis, which by almost any measure was bland and toothless even by the regional grouping’s policies of consensus and non-interference.
In essence, the meeting put equal blame on the Myanmar military’s gunning down peaceful demonstrators, including children as young as five, and the protesters’ use of slingshots and other homemade devices to defend themselves against the security forces’ war weapons.
“We tried not to accuse his [Min Aung Hlaing’s] side too much because we don’t care who’s causing it,” Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin told reporters after the meeting.
The Myanmar military’s mouthpiece Global New Light of Myanmar reported on April 25 that Min Aung Hlaing had emphasized the importance of close cooperation with ASEAN member countries in accord with the ASEAN Charter, and little more than that.
In an April 26 statement, the coup leader said he would carefully consider ASEAN leaders’ recommended steps for solving the crisis “after the situation stabilizes”, and that would be done only if ASEAN’s plan of action facilitated the implementation of the junta’s own policies.
The initial reaction from the “National Unity Government” (NUG), a coalition of elected parliamentarians, ethnic groups and other anti-military personalities, was to welcome the outcome of the Jakarta summit.
In an April 24 statement, the same day as the meeting was held, NUG spokesperson Dr Sasa stated that he was “encouraged” by the consensus that ASEAN had reached.
Rights groups say the danger with Dr Sasa’s statement and media reports that echo similar sentiments is that the main beneficiary of the summit would be Min Aung Hlaing’s coup-installed government.
The international community may thus now believe that the time is ripe to tone down its criticism of the junta’s murderous acts in order to give the ASEAN plan a chance. The notion that the ASEAN summit was a “success” also opens the way for other international actors to engage the junta with outcomes that are unlikely to lead to the restoraration of democracy in Myanmar.
But, as Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch stated in an April 25 press release: “The lack of a clear timeline for action, and ASEAN’s well-known weakness in implementing the decisions and plans that it issues, are real concerns that no one should overlook.”
There is actually very little in ASEAN’s “five points of consensus” that could even be called a plan. The first point states that “all parties should exercise utmost restraint” and stop using violence.
The second calls for a “constructive dialog among all parties concerned” while the third says that ASEAN shall appoint a special envoy to “facilitate the dialog process.” The fourth says ASEAN shall provide humanitarian assistance through its coordinating center for disaster management — aid that ultimately would have to be channeled through the military regime and thus unlikely to reach those most in need.
The fifth and final point says that ASEAN’s “special envoy and delegation shall visit Myanmar to meet with all parties concerned.”
But with the junta’s insistence on adherence to its own “roadmap”, which includes a vague vow to hold new elections perhaps within a year, those points are likely non-starters even if they were implemented — which of course would have to be done through ASEAN’s two golden principles of non-interference and consensus.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen attended the Jakarta meeting, but has stated that what’s happening in Myanmar is an “internal affair.” Other authoritarian member states like communist-ruled Vietnam and Laos will not be keen to create a bloc precedent that could draw into question their own non-democratic systems of government.
Despite Dr Sasa’s positive appraisal of the summit, the reaction on Myanmar’s social media has been overwhelmingly negative and verged on outright hostility towards ASEAN, with many condemning the plan as a stab in the back.
The 88 Generation group of activists, which brings together veterans of Myanmar’s long struggle for democracy, issued a statement even before the meeting took place accusing ASEAN of always siding with the military and acting “in its self-interest and has never been seen to assist nor solve any political discord within its member states.”
The Irrawaddy, a website run by Myanmar journalists, said that “if ASEAN is looking to demonstrate progress, it should go further by condemning the violence and calling for the released of political prisoners and an immediate halt to torture of detainees and other abuses…Myanmar’s implosion has only further exposed ASEAN as the pathetic and irrelevant institution it is.”
Meanwhile, the killings and arrests of protesters have continued unabated, even during and after the summit. Kaung Htet Naing, a 22-year-old student, was shot and killed in Mandalay on April 24.
Another young protester was killed in the central town of Pyinmana and a 63-year-old woman died in custody after being abducted from her house by police in raids following the Jakarta summit.
In the commercial capital Yangon, soldiers and police raided the house of Thura Saw, a former cameraman for the popular TV news channel DVB. Among those arrested since the coup are more than 70 journalists of whom 40 are still under detention while arrest warrants have been issued for another 22 media workers.
A draft statement circulating before the Jakarta summit included a demand for the release of all political prisoners, but that was dropped as one of the “consensus points” after the arrival of Min Aung Hlaing.
With the Jakarta summit in the bag, the Myanmar junta’s likely next step to win international legitimacy will be to woo UN agencies, whose Yangon-based officials potentially stand to lose their jobs unless agreements can be reached with the junta.
That’s worked in the wake of past military massacres. In 1988, when the rest of the world shunned the murderous junta infamously known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council, or SLORC, Oscar Lazo, the head of Yangon-based UN agencies and himself representing the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), invited the SLORC-appointed minister for agriculture and forestry General Chit Swe to attend an FAO conference in Rome.
That was hardly surprising considering Lazo had initiated several lucrative projects in collaboration with Aye Zaw Win, the son-in-law of then-military dictator General Ne Win. Lazo’s overture eventually opened the floodgates for the rest of the UN, which was soon back in business in Myanmar.
Min Aung Hlaing’s junta has already begun to play the drug suppression card to gain international recognition. If the Global New Times of Myanmar of April 14 is to be believed, Myanmar’s Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Lieutenant General Than Hlaing attended the 64th meeting of the Narcotic Drugs Commission in Vienna from April 12-16 “via video conferencing.”
The event, organized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), overlooked the fact that Than Hlaing is among 25 junta leaders and other military officers who have been blacklisted and sanctioned by the European Union for what it has termed “serious human rights violations and abuses.”
In a March 30 statement, the UNODC claimed that “drug lords entwined with rebel groups in Myanmar’s ungovernable border zone…the notorious Golden Triangle” are taking advantage of the situation by “pumping record amounts of methamphetamines across Southeast Asia.”
The statement did not mention official or military complicity in the drug trade and the well-established fact that most of the drug trade is run by local militias that are allied with the Myanmar military.
The question after the ASEAN meeting concerns which other international organizations might be willing to look away from the recent atrocities committed in Myanmar to maintain and pave their particularistic interests in the country.
In an interview with the Jakarta Post on April 27, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi lauded what she apparently termed as “ASEAN’s Myanmar breakthrough.”
But the question now is a breakthrough for whom, the pro-democracy movement, the democracy-suspending junta, or outside groups that see a cynical opportunity in Myanmar’s crisis?..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2021-04-28
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, History of the Tatmadaw, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"The European Union is ready to offer its support to all parties to help restore democracy in Myanmar, the bloc's high representative told ASEAN states on Friday.
Southeast Asian leaders said after an emergency ASEAN summit last week that they had reached consensus with Myanmar's junta on ending violence there. read more
"The European Union stands ready to support ASEAN... in facilitating a constructive dialogue with all key stakeholders with a view to bringing Myanmar/Burma back to its democratic path," the high representative said in a statement published on Friday.
An activist monitoring group says more than 750 people have been killed by security forces in Myanmar since army generals unleashed lethal force in the face of sustained protests against their Feb. 1 coup..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-04-30
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, European Union-Burma relations (commentary/analysis), Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"Global civil society alliance CIVICUS is disappointed that the outcomes of the regional ASEAN summit held in Jakarta fell short of what is necessary to address Myanmar’s human rights crisis, including by failing to call for the immediate release of human rights activists, journalists and others arbitrarily detained. This failure undermines any chance of ensuring a genuine dialogue and transition back to democratic civilian rule.
A statement released after the summit said the leaders and foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had reached a consensus on five points. They included asking for an immediate stop to the violence and opening a dialogue between the military and civilian leaders, with that process overseen by a special ASEAN envoy who would also visit with a delegation. The group also offered humanitarian assistance. The statement offered no timeline for these actions to be taken or an implementing mechanism.
No mention was made of the nearly 4,000 people who have been arbitrarily detained by the military, including activists, peaceful protesters, and journalists, some in unknown locations and denied access to lawyers or family members. Many are facing serious and baseless charges, including treason.
“Millions of people in Myanmar were hoping that ASEAN would, for once, uphold the principles enshrined in the ASEAN Charter including the rule of law and respect for and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and were once again tremendously disappointed. ASEAN has failed the thousands of political prisoners including activists and journalists by not calling for their immediate and unconditional release, which should be an integral part of any successful efforts to restore democracy,” said David Kode, CIVICUS’s Advocacy and Campaigns Lead.
The summit also failed to acknowledge the National Unity Government (NUG) that was formed on 16 April 2021 representing elected members of the Union Parliament. It also ignored the serious violations that have occurred in Myanmar since the coup which left around 750 dead, including children and thousands injured due to the use of lethal force by the security forces to crack down on protests, the ill-treatment by the security forces during night-time raids and the internet shutdowns. No mention was made of UN resolutions on the crisis adopted by consensus at the Human Rights Council since the coup. Nor was there any acknowledgment of or offering of support to the UN mechanisms mandated to monitor and report on human rights violations relating to the coup.
“The failure to acknowledge and engage with the legitimately elected representatives of the people of Myanmar shows that ASEAN leaders’ talk of democracy is only lip service. We call for ASEAN to put their words into action by demanding an end to the state of emergency and for the elected civilian government to be restored,” said David Kode.
Since the meeting, the junta already seem to be backtracking from their already minimal promises. Myanmar military junta leader Min Aung Hlaing said he will consider proposals by ASEAN to solve the ongoing crisis in Myanmar only after peace and stability are restored in his country.
CIVICUS reiterates calls for an immediate end to the escalating violence by the military, the immediate and unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained, and for steps to be taken by the international community, including ASEAN, to hold those responsible for the serious human rights violations to account..."
Source/publisher:
Civicus (Johannesburg)
Date of publication:
2021-04-28
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, National Unity Government (NUG), Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"Fighting between Myanmar's military and armed ethnic groups is moving so close to the border it can be seen from Thailand. While a leader from the Karen National Liberation Army says their small victories against the junta can help the country-wide push for democracy, it comes at a cost to people living near the border..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-05-01
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Karen State - general articles and reports, Armed conflict in Karen State - military activities and their impact on village life, including livelihood, health, education and land tenure security, Tatmadaw (Burma Army), Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Karen National Union (KNU), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, ASEAN-Burma relations
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"The UN Security Council failed to agree Friday on a joint statement on the crisis in Myanmar after a closed-door meeting, with diplomats blaming Beijing -- the junta's main backer -- and Russia for raising objections and putting forward their own competing text.
The session was convened by Vietnam to present the conclusions of a recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Indonesia. ASEAN is to appoint an envoy to help resolve the crisis sparked by the February 1 coup by the Myanmar military.
During the meeting, the UN Special Envoy to Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, who is currently touring the region, gave a report on her long meeting with Myanmar junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing, held on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting.
Diplomats said the envoy, who is currently based in Bangkok, once again had her request for a visit to Myanmar denied.
During the meeting, Brunei, which currently holds the presidency of ASEAN, floated the idea of a joint visit to Myanmar by the UN envoy and her future ASEAN counterpart.
A draft Security Council declaration, drawn up by Britain, failed to win full endorsement as it stood.
A copy obtained by AFP showed that it planned to give "full support for the central role of ASEAN" and to encourage a visit to Myanmar by Schraner Burgener "as soon as possible."
It said that members of the Security Council "once again strongly condemned violence against peaceful protestors" and "reiterated their call on the military to exercise utmost restraint."
But diplomats said China and Russia objected to the British draft and proposed their own short competing text, which proved unacceptable to the majority of the Security Council.
Discussions were still underway for a merger of the two draft statements on Friday, diplomats said.
Nearly 760 civilians have been killed by police and soldiers in the past three months, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
The junta puts the death toll at 258 dead by April 15, calling the demonstrators "rioters" who engaged in "acts of terrorism".
Source/publisher:
Agence France-Presse (Paris) via "France24" ( Paris)
Date of publication:
2021-05-01
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, China-Burma relations, Russia-Burma relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights and international relations
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Sub-title:
Junta report presented to ASEAN on Myanmar's political situation revealed a tortured relationship with the bloody truth
Description:
"Myanmar’s junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing arrived at the recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Jakarta with justifications for his February 1 coup compiled in a neat document entitled “The Current Political Situation in Myanmar.”
Written in a first-person account redolent of a court case defense summation, the 118-page paper outlines the alleged fraud and corruption at last November’s elections that motivated the coup and subsequent responses by the military, or Tatmadaw.
The military’s electoral fraud allegations had been mounting for months since the nationwide polls, and its insistence that 10.4 million votes were fraudulent is as implausible as when the accusation was aired by military officials days before the coup, which acted to form the State Administration Council (SAC) and topple the National League for Democracy (NLD) government.
The document absurdly uses screen grabs of statements from the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, United States Secretary of State and international media to demonstrate “the election as not free and fair due to ballot rigging”, when the related statements predominantly criticized constitutional provisions preserving Tatmadaw power and the disenfranchisement of Rohingya Muslims.
It also manages to heap blame solely on the NLD for the pre-election cancellations that deprived some 1.4 million people the vote. But it is the document’s self-deluded description of the nationwide protests that erupted in response to the coup and suspension of democracy that is most glaring.
It outlines five stages of progressively severe protest to justify the military clampdown. First, as the junta sees it, there were peaceful protests led by the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). The narrative in this section almost commends protestors for their ingenuity and spontaneity, with several pages of photos of colorful demonstrations.
The second stage, however, is characterized as “riots”, the third stage “anarchistic mobs” and the fourth stage “insurrection”, with alleged provocateurs summarized as “NLD radicalist (sic), destructionists, bad guys…Federal Army idealists.”
The fifth stage slugs the protests as “terrorism…the worst stage ever.” The report outlines the alleged destruction of property with protesters “utilizing immature children as human shield.” It shrilly says “on the pretext of democracy they (NLD and demonstrators) are exercising mobocracy and tyranny of the majority.”
In a picture diagram of the supposed five stages, the document bids to justify the junta’s arrests and use of force to counter “protester actions”, but utterly and blindly fails to document its violent assault on the country and its people over the last three months.
According to the report, the list of casualties includes six dead Tatmadaw with 45 injured and five dead Myanmar Police Force (MPF) with 12 inexplicably “Fall” and 253 wounded.
From February 1 to April 15, it says 64 police stations, the majority in Mandalay, were destroyed by fire. It also claims 62 war or village administration offices, 52 offices, 16 roads, 13 banks, and 105 other buildings were destroyed. Security forces also claim to have seized 3,118 shields, 694 slingshots, 14,183 pellets, 1,114 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), 16 guns, and 4,630 “firebombs.”
Now compare this with the more credible summary of state repression compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), which lists 755 protestors killed, 4,496 arrested with 3,448 still detained and an unknown number of casualties nationwide as of April 27.
This contrast in assessments has obviously irked the SAC, with the Ministry of Home Affairs this week threatening AAPP with “severe action” for its contradictory reporting. By any measure, though, contrasting the AAPP’s data with Min Aung Hlaing’s ASEAN-friendly account is an exercise in cognitive dissonance and revelation of the SAC’s inability to generate remotely credible fake news.
The military document also summarizes an ASEAN-appeasing five-part future work plan, which like the previous military regime’s “Seven Step Road Map to Discipline Flourishing Democracy” that preceded it its military-crafted 2008 Constitution, includes a “work in progress” approach that will allow the Tatmadaw to set the tempo and timetables of supposed state-building.
The five stages will include reconstituting the Union Election Commission and establishing correct voter lists; prevention of Covid-19 and a vaccination drive; the recovering of businesses affected by the pandemic; “Restoring Eternal Peace with NCA”, without acknowledging the 2015 ceasefire agreement is already dead; and finally, free and fair multi-party elections.
This section, like a lot of Tatmadaw plans, has a “Waiting for Godot” aspect. In summary, the briefing booklet evokes the metaphor of a student “passed who cheated on his exams” to decry alleged NLD meddling and corruption in the elections.
SAC propaganda also recently referenced the “Harry Tan” incident of 1956, where a seventh-grade student involved in protests was famously shot dead by police, the first student killing of the post-independence era, to perversely besmirch the NLD and its “cheating on democracy.”
Clearly, the SAC is more comfortable in a bygone era than the future as it asserts the current takeover of state power is more like the 1958 military “caretaker government” and therefore not a real coup, a word it has barred harassed local media from using. It has called on the regional bloc for “understanding the root causes and the reality of current situations, and hopes for ASEAN cooperation.”
In sum, the booklet is even more crude, shrill and unnerving than the usual lame efforts that pass for propaganda from the Tatmadaw’s True News Information Team. Rather, it is a slapdash scrapbook with all the hallmarks of a late minute submission than a serious authority seeking regional and global understanding.
Hysterical headlines and highly suspect figures of destroyed property and alleged crimes is an insight not into obtuse authoritarian bluster but sheer self-deception. The SAC issued a statement on Monday suggesting ASEAN “review the information booklet circulated at the meeting before comments are made relating to the current political situation.”
Tatmadaw propaganda has always revealed a tortured relationship with truth, but the report’s justifications for the coup and the one-sided narrative of grievance and violence is a pathological projection of a severe conscience: guilt pours over its crude pages.
The Tatmadaw leadership is likely aware most of their “news” is sheer bunk and largely designed to convince themselves and their rank and file rather than the general population and wider world.
It’s also unclear if the coup confessional is a SAC initiative or the efforts of the US$2 million funded shill Ari Ben-Menashe and his Dickens and Madson public relations firm hired by the junta to launder its global reputation.
The booklet has the legacy blend of previous military regimes’ propaganda in the early 1990s, with an obsession with “evidence” and an assembly of grievances to justify seizing state power from untrustworthy civilian politicians and unruly subjects — all designed to downplay their own extreme violence.
The booklet is useful evidence for the case against ASEAN interventions in Myanmar: it’s akin to submitting inane scribbles and scraps for a final semester assignment at university and expecting the indolent yet corruptible faculty to pass you regardless of the quality.
Clearly, the SAC realizes with cynical acuity that with ASEAN it doesn’t need to make much of an effort; mere attendance makes the grade.
The Tatmadaw also knows the game plan ahead. Indeed, they have confronted these ritualized, regional admonishments before without repercussion. ASEAN will embark on yet another limp, ineffectual engagement strategy, promising dialogue and assistance.
The West and United Nations will sigh relief that their support for ASEAN’s efforts absolves them of anything other than issuing strong statements, imposing a smattering of sanctions and be assuaged that a prolonged dialogue “process” is underway.
Urgently needed humanitarian assistance for millions of people affected by state violence then becomes hostage to these elite maneuvers.
For those in the West who actually do care about the future of Myanmar, this booklet should spark distress that the Tatmadaw is determined to drag the country back into a stone-age dictatorship, with ASEAN as its usher.
That is the real danger of the junta’s disinformation screed. By engaging with the SAC’s justifications for extreme violence, international interlocutors are inculcating the generals’ delusions. ASEAN is, as ever, the preferred prophylactic for Western inaction on Myanmar and is tantamount to selling the nation’s democratic resistance down the river.
David Scott Mathieson is an independent analyst working on conflict, peace and human rights issues on Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2021-04-29
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, ASEAN-Burma relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Ethnic minority Karen insurgents attacked a Myanmar army outpost near the Thai border on Tuesday in some of the most intense clashes since a military coup nearly three months ago threw the country into crisis.
The Karen National Union (KNU), Myanmar's oldest rebel force, said it had captured the army camp on the west bank of the Salween river, which forms the border with Thailand.
The Myanmar military later hit back against the insurgents with air strikes, the KNU and Thai authorities said.
The fighting took place as the junta, in a setback for diplomatic efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said it would "positively" consider the bloc's suggestions to end the turmoil in Myanmar but only when stability was restored.
The ASEAN leaders said after meeting on the weekend with the junta chief that they had reached a consensus on steps to end violence and promote dialogue between the rival Myanmar sides.
The outbreak of hostilities near the border shifted the focus of opposition to the junta away from the pro-democracy protests that have taken place in cities and towns across the country since the coup on Feb. 1.
The military overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, detained her and other civilian politicians, then cracked down with lethal force on anti-coup protesters.
Security forces have killed more than 750 civilians in the demonstrations, an activist group says.
The Karen and other ethnic minority forces based in frontier regions have supported the largely urban-based pro-democracy opponents of the junta......PRE-DAWN ATTACK: In Tuesday's fighting, villagers on the Thai side of the river said heavy gunfire started before dawn.
Video posted on social media showed flames and smoke on the forested hillside and KNU forces had captured the outpost, the group's head of foreign affairs, Saw Taw Nee, told Reuters.
The Myanmar military later mounted air strikes, Saw Taw Nee said. There was no word on casualties and 450 Thai villagers were moved away from the border to safety, the Thai military said.
The Myanmar army made no comment. It has historically portrayed itself as the one institution that can keep together the ethnically diverse country of more than 53 million people.
The KNU agreed to a ceasefire in 2012, ending its struggle for autonomy that began shortly after Myanmar’s independence from Britain in 1948.
But its forces have clashed with the army since it seized power, ending a decade of democratic reforms that had also brought relative peace to Myanmar's borderlands.
Fighting has also flared in the north and west, where the Irrawaddy news site reported 13 government soldiers were killed in clashes in Chin State over the past few days.
About 24,000 people are sheltering in the jungle after being displaced in recent weeks by violence near the Thai border, including military air strikes, Karen groups say.....'CAREFUL CONSIDERATION': Elsewhere in Myanmar, there have been few reports of bloodshed since the weekend meeting between the junta chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and Southeast Asian leaders to try to find a way out of the crisis.
The junta, in its first official comment on the meeting, said it would give "careful consideration to constructive suggestions ... when the situation returns to stability".
The suggestions would be "positively considered" if they facilitated the junta's own "roadmap", and "serves the interests of the country", it said in a statement.
The junta did not refer to what ASEAN called a five-point consensus, issued at the end of the meeting, to end the violence and initiate talks.
ASEAN's points included appointing an envoy to visit Myanmar for talks with all sides. But Min Aung Hlaing, in comments reported in state media, said: "The visits to Myanmar proposed by ASEAN will be considered after stabilising the country."
U.N. Special Rapporteur Thomas Andrews called on Min Aung Hlaing to make a commitment to live up to the ASEAN plan.
"The people of Myanmar...need and deserve to know if it is your intention to honour this commitment," Andrews said in an open letter.
Activists have criticised the plan, saying it helped to legitimise the junta and fell far short of their demands.
In particular, it did not call for the release of Suu Kyi, 75, and other political prisoners. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group says more than 3,400 people have been detained for opposing the coup.
Suu Kyi's party won a second term in November. The election commission said the vote was fair but the military said fraud at the polls had forced it to seize power.
Protesters against the junta were out in several places on Tuesday including the main city of Yangon, where hundreds surged down a street in a “flash mob” march, images on social media showed..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-04-28
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Karen State - general articles and reports, Karen National Union (KNU), Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, ASEAN-Burma relations, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"Myanmar’s parallel government on Wednesday rejected holding talks with the junta that seized power in early February until the military regime releases more than 3,000 political prisoners, rebuffing a plan by the country’s Southeast Asian neighbors.
Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met last Saturday and signed a “five-point consensus” on resolving the crisis by halting army violence against civilian protesters and holding talks.
Members of the pro-democracy National Unity Government (NUG), formed on Apr. 16, said they will not engage in dialogue until detained leaders from the previous civilian-led government, including deposed State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, are freed. They also want ASEAN members and other nations to recognize the NUG as the legitimate government of Myanmar.
“In order to have a meaningful dialogue, it is very clear that it is only possible if our leaders who are being detained are freed,” Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar’s permanent representative to the United Nations, told RFA, speaking for the NUG.
“We believe that only when they are freed will the talks be fair and meaningful,” he said.
Many leaders, other officials, and lawmakers from the National League for Democracy (NLD) were arrested by the military during and after the Feb. 1 coup, while those who evaded arrest have formed the NUG.
Political leaders and analysts in Myanmar said ASEAN’s stance on the crisis was unfair to pro-democratic forces and would prolong the current military dictatorship. They also said that the release of the more than 3,400 people who are being detained by junta forces is a key condition for resolving the crisis.
Security forces, including police, have conducted violent crackdowns on anti-coup protesters in cities and towns nationwide, at times using deadly force. More than 750 people have been killed since the coup began, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a Thailand-based human rights group.....Proposal deserves support: Nandar Hla Myint, spokesman for the military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), said ASEAN’s proposal deserves support.
“I believe ASEAN is serious about the situation of individual countries in the region, and at the same time it adheres to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of another country, so it came up with something acceptable to both sides,” he said.
The five-point agreement calls for an ASEAN envoy and delegation to visit Myanmar to meet with concerned parties, but junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has said that the visit would be considered only if there was internal stability.
A political analyst who declined to be named said the regime leader’s comment could mean that the crackdowns will continue and that the visit will be put off.
“None of the five demands in the agreement calls for the release of detained leaders,” he said. “Min Aung Hlaing has no intention of releasing them. Who are they going to negotiate with, then, if the unlawfully arrested leaders are not released? There is no need to hold discussions with anyone.”
Myint Oo, an NLD lawmaker from Bago region who won a seat in the November 2020 elections, said the political crisis could not be solved by ASEAN’s recommendations and that the grouping’s suggestions were an insult to people protesting peacefully for democracy.
“Look at the way ASEAN said that both sides should cease violence, as if it was the peaceful protesters who were using violence. This fact alone is offensive to the gentle and peaceful citizens who are staging this Spring Revolution,” he told RFA.
Thein Tun Oo, executive director of the pro-military think tank the Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, said he believed the military council would comply with ASEAN’s points if the demands were in line with a law enacted in the national interest.
“We believe we can do everything we can in the national interest within a legal framework.” he said. “We certainly see it will move forward step by step. It might not move as speedily as they would expect, but each of the five demands could be implemented at appropriate times.”.....Junta outlaws AAPP: Continuing its drive to cut off the flow of information about killings and arrests in the crackdown, the junta outlawed the AAPP after accusing the group of producing biased information and incorrect data that hurt the stability and rule of law in Myanmar.
The Ministry for Home Affairs under the State Administration Council, as the junta government is known, announced on Monday that it would take action against the AAPP for releasing what it said was inaccurate data to intimidate and cause anxiety among civil servants and the public, which could be interpreted as inciting violence.
The AAPP publishes daily updates on the numbers of people killed, arrested, and released by the military and police in connection with anti-junta. The statements have been cited frequently by foreign governments, media, and other international organizations.
Pro-army pundit Thein Tun Oo agreed with the junta’s move, saying AAPP reports are “weak in background checks or references, and the numbers get inflated.”
The AAPP, however, said it has compiled lists of detainees since the day of the military coup along with the names of the dead, places where the attacks occurred, dates of deaths, and causes of death.
“Everything is recorded with photos and video recordings and the data published daily,” the organization said in response to an RFA query.
The military regime is attacking the AAPP because it is recognized by the U.N., foreign governments, and rights groups as a credible source of information about political prisoners in Myanmar, said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“They are trying to silence a very important organization that is doing a very difficult job. It is an attempt to keep the outside world from hearing what is happening in Burma,” he said.....More protests, arrests: Sporadic demonstration in support of the NUG and anti-junta protests continued to be held in townships in Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing, Bago, and Tanintharyi regions as well as in Shan and Kachin states.
The AAPP said the death toll as of Wednesday was 756 and that 3,449 people were arrested, while another 1,237 people were in hiding while facing charges.
At least two people were killed and 15 were arrested amid protests and clashes between demonstrators and security forces on Wednesday, witnesses said.
In Sagaing region, a military corporal was killed during a brief clash between the Tamu People’s Defense Force and Myanmar soldiers Tuesday evening near the Indian border, residents said.
Soldiers took away the body of Corporal Aung Aung, a local soldier who had joined the Civil Disobedience Movement of striking workers in March, they said.
In the Sagaing town of Monywa, where residents have been holding daily anti-junta protests, soldiers took away nine people from three neighborhoods Tuesday night, locals said.
“Nine got arrested,” said a resident who declined to be named. “They were accused of communicating with underground forces. There had been a series of explosions in the area recently, so their arrests could be connected to that.”
An explosion on a bridge in Kachin state Tuesday night caused the structure’s foundation to crack and some rafters on nearby railroad tracks connecting the towns of Myitkyina and Mandalay to catch fire, said a resident of Hopin where the blast occurred. It is not clear who was behind the bombings..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-04-28
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, ASEAN-Burma relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Topic:
Business , Crisis and Conflict
Sub-title:
Urgently Review All Non-Humanitarian Projects
Topic:
Business , Crisis and Conflict
Description:
"The Japanese government should immediately review its aid portfolio for Myanmar and suspend non-humanitarian projects that benefit the junta or military, Human Rights Watch said today. Japan should immediately suspend Official Development Aid (ODA) infrastructure projects carried out by Myanmar government ministries and other assistance involving military-controlled entities.
Following the February 1, 2021 military coup, the Japanese government stated it would refrain from carrying out new non-humanitarian ODA programs in Myanmar, but it has yet to adopt a clear, public position regarding ongoing projects. The latest figures show that in 2019, Japan provided about 169 billion yen (US$1.6 billion) in loan assistance, 15 billion yen ($140 million) in grant aid, and 6.7 billion yen ($62 million) in technical assistance to Myanmar.
“As Myanmar’s security forces gun down protesters on the streets, Japan should not take a ‘wait and see’ approach but should promptly and responsibly review its aid portfolio to Myanmar,” said Teppei Kasai, Asia program officer. “Japan should suspend all non-humanitarian aid projects that benefit the junta or military as part of global efforts to pressure Myanmar’s generals to cease their violent crackdown, release all political prisoners, and restore the democratically elected government.”
Ongoing nationwide protests have demonstrated widespread opposition to military rule. The response of the junta’s State Administration Council to the largely peaceful protests has been increasingly brutal. Since the coup, security forces have killed over 750 people, including at least 45 children, and detained an estimated 3,431 activists, journalists, civil servants, and politicians.
Human Rights Watch and four other organizations sent a letter to Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on February 25 saying that the Japanese government should halt non-humanitarian ODA programs to Myanmar. A Foreign Ministry official told Human Rights Watch on April 15 that Japan’s plans for a 100 million yen ($930,000) financial grant to the Myanmar police, originally announced on July 2, 2020, had been “undetermined” due to the coup. The official did not clarify whether the aid has been permanently terminated or suspended, and no public statement has been made regarding this project, or any other ongoing aid project.
Another problematic project is the Bago River Bridge Construction Project in Yangon, approved by Japan and Myanmar in December 2016. The project involves a 31-billion-yen loan ($288 million) provided by Japan’s aid agency, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). On March 26, the local media outlet Myanmar Now reported that the project involves the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), a military-owned conglomerate recently sanctioned by the United States, United Kingdom, and the European Union. The report said that a MEC-owned steel mill in Hmawbi, Yangon, is supplying steel for two-thirds of the bridge’s construction and profiting enormously.
In response to a March 27 inquiry by Human Rights Watch, JICA confirmed that Yokogawa Bridge Corp., a Japanese construction firm involved in the project, had finalized a contract with MEC and its affiliate in November 2019. A representative from Yokogawa Bridge also confirmed to Human Rights Watch that it has a “business dealing” with MEC, while saying that construction was on hold partly due to a “lack of material resources.” The representative said that the company would “pay close attention to ensuring the safety of those involved in Myanmar and continue discussions with relevant parties on what to do going forward.”
The project is also being carried out in conjunction with Myanmar’s Construction Ministry and the Myanmar Port Authority under the Transport Ministry.
According to Mohinga, the aid website operated by Myanmar’s Planning and Finance Ministry, Japan is currently funding several non-humanitarian infrastructure projects directly with the Planning and Finance, and Transport and Communication Ministries. Such projects should also be reviewed for possible suspension.
Japan has been a leading donor to Myanmar. By 2017, the government had provided more than a total of 1 trillion yen ($9.3 billion) in loan assistance, more than 320 billion yen ($2.9 billion) in grant aid, and 98 billion yen ($912 million) in technical assistance. As of 2017, Official Development Aid from Japan to Myanmar ranked highest among member countries and institutions of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s development cooperation directorate. In November 2016, when Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, visited Japan, Japan announced that its public and private sectors would contribute 800 billion yen ($7.4 billion) to Myanmar over a five-year period.
The Japanese government should trigger human-rights-based conditions enshrined in its ODA charter, which states that “Japan will pay adequate attention to the situation in the recipient countries regarding the process of democratization, the rule of law and the protection of basic human rights, with a view to promoting the consolidation of democratization, the rule of law and the respect for basic human rights.”
With respect to humanitarian aid, Japan should maintain such projects but redirect the funds through nongovernmental groups to ensure it is used effectively and directly benefits populations in need. Development aid should be directed only toward basic human needs and where possible delivered through independent nongovernmental organizations.
Since the coup, the junta has overhauled the Myanmar Investment Commission and all regional investment bodies, installing nine members, including Lt. Gen. Moe Myint Tun, who is also a junta member. The US, UK, and EU have sanctioned Moe Myint Tun for his direct involvement in and responsibility for what the EU said was “undermining democracy and the rule of law in Myanmar … repressive decisions and for serious human rights violations.” As a military commander who oversaw operations in Rakhine State until 2019, he was also “therefore responsible for those serious violations and abuses against the Rohingya population,” according to the EU.
“The Japanese government’s indecisiveness and silence over suspending its non-humanitarian aid that benefits the junta is contributing to the military repression in Myanmar,” Kasai said. “Japan should swiftly and publicly show it is on the side of Myanmar’s people and not the commanders who are behind the arrests and killings of protesters every day across the country.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-04-27
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"Myanmar security forces shot dead a man in the second city of Mandalay on Monday, national media reported, two days after Southeast Asian leaders said they had reached consensus with the junta on ending violence.
Activists opposed to military rule called on people to stop paying electricity bills and agricultural loans and to keep their children away from school, adding to doubts about a regional bloc's push to end Myanmar's post-coup crisis.
The man was shot dead at a fried rice shop in Mandalay late on Monday and some other people were wounded, three Myanmar media reported. Mizzima news service also said a woman had been shot dead on a motorcycle in the southern town of Dawei.
A junta spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. With most internet access cut and journalists' movements restricted, Reuters could not confirm the incidents independently.
An activist monitoring group says more than 750 people have been killed by security forces as the generals unleashed lethal force in the face of sustained protests against their Feb. 1 coup. There were more protests on Monday, but there were no immediate reports of violence at them.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing reached an agreement at a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Indonesia at the weekend on steps to bring peace.
But the junta chief did not submit to calls for the release of political prisoners, including the leader of the ousted civilian government Aung San Suu Kyi, and the ASEAN accord lacked any timeline for ending the crisis.
Activists criticised the agreement that came out of the ASEAN meeting, a so-called five-point consensus that included an end to violence, starting dialogue among all parties, accepting aid, and appointing a special ASEAN envoy who would visit Myanmar.
"We deplore the fact that the consensus was reached without any legitimate representation of the people of Myanmar," said a statement in the name of more than 400 Myanmar civil society groups, who said ASEAN should push the junta to hand over to a rival civilian unity government formed by its opponents.
The military has not officially commented on the outcome of the meeting but the state broadcaster, citing the ruling military council in its main bulletin, said: "Some of the facts from ASEAN are a good contribution so we will consider that."
MORE ACTION
Pro-democracy activists have called for an intensification of efforts against the military from Monday by refusing to pay electricity bills and agricultural loans, and keeping children from going to school.
"We don't participate in their systems, we don't cooperate with them," activist Khant Wai Phyo told a protest meeting on Monday.
The ASEAN agreement did not mention political prisoners although the statement said the meeting heard calls for their release. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group says 3,431 people have been detained for opposing the coup.
The most prominent is Suu Kyi, 75, who has been charged with various offences including violating a colonial-era official secrets act that could see her jailed for 14 years.
She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and has led Myanmar’s struggle against military rule for decades. Her party won a second term in November.
The election commission said the vote was fair but the military said fraud at the polls had forced it to seize power.
Suu Kyi appeared via video link for a hearing in her case on Monday and again asked the court for permission to meet her lawyers in person, a member of her legal team said. She has only been allowed to speak to them by video link in the presence of security officials so far.
Police told the court they had referred her request to higher authorities and were "working on it step by step", lawyer Min Min Soe told Reuters.
Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said Suu Kyi had not been allowed direct contact with the lawyers because it could be an avenue for illegal communication with protest leaders and because of the COVID-19 epidemic, according to an interview with Russia's RIA news agency last week.
Her lawyers have said the charges against her were trumped up. The next hearing is on May 10..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-04-26
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"1. The National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG) has read with interest the Chairman’s Statement of the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting held at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, on 24 April 2021, chaired by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.....2. As Prime Minister of an ASEAN member state, I have followed the various steps of ASEAN’s statements and actions regarding the situation in Myanmar since the unconstitutional coup of 1 February 2021. I note that the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting took the opportunity to discuss - in addition to the situation in Myanmar - other matters of regional relevance and importance, including ASEAN Community-building priorities, and recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. These priorities are also important for the plight of the people in Myanmar today. Yet ASEAN’s actions regarding Myanmar has remained in the abstract amidst the fear and terror inflicted by the military on its own
people. Close to 800 have lost their lives since February 2021, and more than 3000 are under detention, including President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.....3. In this context, I thank Their Excellencies Mr Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of
Indonesia, Tan Sri Dato' Haji Mahiaddin bin Md. Yasin, Prime Minister of Malaysia, and Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, who have consistently called for release of political prisoners, reiterating this call at the recent ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting.....4. It is unfortunate that the NUG did not have the opportunity to brief our ASEAN counterparts at the recent meeting, of the daily realities that the people of Myanmar face under military rule. Instead, the State Administration Council (SAC) representative took
that opportunity to seek to justify the military’s actions regarding law and order and stability in the country, when in actual fact, documented visual and reported evidence points to the contrary.....5. While the NUG deeply appreciates the support and commitment of ASEAN Member States to assist Myanmar and her people, we nevertheless remain greatly concerned that any misrepresentation of facts by the military may affect the way in which ASEAN formulates and implements the necessary follow-up actions to the Five-Point Consensus adopted by the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting on 24 April 2021.....6. Familiar with the ASEAN Way of reaching consensus, we in the NUG understand that the Five-Point Consensus is the product of intense discussion and negotiation. We also understand that because of how Myanmar was/is represented at ASEAN meetings in
the current situation, those discussions could not include the true situation and interests of the Myanmar people - which the NUG represents. As such, I wish to highlight the following clarifications, which the NUG and the Myanmar people view as important to
understand the situation in Myanmar...a. The first point in the Five-Point Consensus underscores that “there shall be
immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar and all parties shall exercise utmost restraint”. I wish to highlight that the violence is one-sided and committed by only one party. Since 1 February 2021, violations by using excessive or lethal force against unarmed civilians have been committed exclusively by the military. Within
hours after announcement of the Five-Point Consensus, the military and police were harassing people who were banging pots and pans in protest. This is a clear contravention of the Consensus to which the purported representative of Myanmar committed...b. The second point of the Five-Point Consensus calls for “constructive dialogue among all parties concerned”. There are several stakeholders whose input is important for this constructive dialogue. I wish to urge the ASEAN delegation to engage the National Unity Government as the true representative of the people of Myanmar. I also wish to stress the importance of including representatives of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs), to ensure that all voices against military rule in Myanmar are heard by our ASEAN interlocutors......7. The NUG, in the spirit of the ASEAN Way enshrined in the ASEAN Charter, stands ready to engage with the ASEAN envoy, the ASEAN Secretary-General, and other representatives of ASEAN collectively and individually, in the constructive and inclusive manner that ASEAN envisages for helping Myanmar and her people emerge from the
current crisis.....8. To this end, I wish to emphasise my government’s position and recommendations on how we will engage with ASEAN on this process...a. We are encouraged by the emphasis placed on the strength of the ASEAN Community in the Chairman’s Statement of the recent ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting. The NUG echoes ASEAN’s commitment to “place people at the centre of the ASEAN Community, to fulfil their desire to live in a region of lasting peace, sustained economic growth and social progress”. We wish to remind our ASEAN
counterparts that the NUG is in the most appropriate position to pursue these aims for the people of Myanmar, as the NUG is the representative government of the peoples and democratic forces in Myanmar... b. We are also heartened by ASEAN’s reaffirmation of its commitment to the principles enshrined in the ASEAN Charter. As highlighted in paragraph 2 of this statement, the coup mounted by the SAC on 1 February 2021 is unconstitutional.
The NUG is concerned that ASEAN’s engagement with SAC may undermine the principle of constitutional government enshrined in the ASEAN Charter... c. We wish to work with ASEAN to ensure that the ASEAN Envoy achieves a constructive outcome in Myanmar. As one of the key stakeholders in this process, the NUG strongly recommends that ASEAN consult the NUG’s views and input on the ASEAN Envoy’s mission and mandate... d. We appreciate that ASEAN wishes to facilitate constructive dialogue among key stakeholders as part of the process. Before any constructive dialogue can take
place, however, there must be an unconditional release of political prisoners including President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi... e. While the NUG welcomes ASEAN’s humanitarian assistance mission, we also wish to highlight that humanitarian assistance alone does not provide a solution
to the root causes regarding the current situation in Myanmar. Therefore, we also wish to recommend that ASEAN consult with the NUG on its plans for humanitarian assistance to the Myanmar people...f. The NUG also wishes to highlight to ASEAN the important need to establish accountability mechanisms for monitoring the SAC’s compliance with the Five- Point Consensus..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-04-24
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf pdf
Size:
67.09 KB 311.13 KB 1.34 MB
Local URL:
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"ASEAN MUST UPHOLD ITS RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE OF MYANMAR
As anti-coup protests continue, during a 19 April interview the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said that, “according to the responsibility to protect [R2P], the international community… has a responsibility to do what it can to protect the lives of innocent people in countries that are unable or unwilling to do so, or are in fact attacking them.” He stressed that it was “definitely appropriate” for the international community to act in accordance with the R2P principle and that Myanmar was “exactly the situation” where we “have a responsibility to protect.”
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 739 people have been killed by the security forces since 1 February and at least 3,331 people are currently detained for resisting the military coup. Two protesters were killed in the city of Mogok on 17 April, when the security forces opened fire on people gathered to show support for the National Unity Government (NUG), which was formed a day earlier by a coalition of democratic opponents to military rule.
Clashes also continue between Myanmar’s military and the ethnic armed group, the Kachin Independence Army. The military is reportedly using civilians as human shields in northern Kachin State, forcing them to walk ahead of soldiers. Such acts violate international law and are a war crime.
Meanwhile, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will discuss the ongoing crisis in Myanmar during a summit to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 24 April. Controversially, Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, the coup leader, was invited to the summit, while NUG representatives were not. It is unclear whether General Min Aung Hlaing – who an earlier UN Fact-Finding Mission found was responsible for the 2017 genocide against the country’s Rohingya minority – will attend the summit virtually or in person.
In an address to the UN Security Council (UNSC) on 19 April, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed, “the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign States should not be used as a pretext for inaction in the face of serious human rights abuses. ASEAN must make it clear to the Myanmar military that the current situation is so grave that it cannot be regarded only as an internal matter.” He further called on the current UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, “to engage directly with the Myanmar military” and urged the UNSC to “seriously consider” the principle of R2P, “using a range of tools at the Council’s disposal.”
The UNSC and ASEAN must implement practical measures to help mediate an end to the crisis in Myanmar. Nadira Kourt, Program Manager at the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, said, “the country is currently ungovernable under the military junta. The UNSC and ASEAN should immediately impose a global arms embargo, as well as internationally binding sanctions on senior military officials and affiliated businesses. Accountability is essential. The time for so-called quiet diplomacy has passed. Now is the time for bold diplomatic action.".....ETHNIC VIOLENCE, DISPLACEMENT AND HUNGER THREATEN DR CONGO: Last Friday, 16 April, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned of a resurgence of violence in the Grand Kasaï region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). According to UNHCR, clashes between fighters from the Luba and Kuba ethnic groups in the Bakwakenge locality erupted in late March. Local authorities have reported that at least 21,000 people have been displaced, 13 people killed and 190 homes burned down. Tensions between the two communities have been increasing since August 2020 when a deadly cycle of reprisal attacks resulted in 40,000 people being displaced.
The risk of widespread ethnic violence is particularly acute in the Kasaïs, as the region continues to recover from atrocities perpetrated between 2016-2018 that forced more than 1.4 million people to flee. During that time the UN identified at least 80 mass graves, and more than 3,000 people were estimated to have been killed, including two members of the UN Panel of Experts who were investigating the violence. Most fighting took place between Kamuina Nsapu (a mainly Luba militia), Bana Mura (a mainly Chokwe militia), and the armed forces of the DRC. A UN Team of International Experts found evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by the militias, including extrajudicial killings, rape, torture, and recruitment of children, as well as abuses that “could amount to persecution based on ethnicity.”
UNHCR spokesperson, Babar Baloch, called for “a renewed focus on restoring peace and defusing tensions in Kasaï to prevent another wave of mass displacement in the country.” There are currently an estimated 5.2 million people displaced in the DRC where recurring conflict in the eastern provinces has contributed to a massive humanitarian crisis. On 6 April the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme announced that an estimated 27.3 million people – one in three Congolese – are critically hungry, which is “the highest number of people in urgent need of food security assistance in the world.”
The DRC government needs to urgently deescalate tensions in the Kasaï region, protect vulnerable civilians and ensure that the violence does not derail the ongoing truth, justice and accountability process for past atrocities.
ARMED EXTREMIST GROUPS TARGET HUMANITARIAN WORKERS IN NIGERIA
A series of attacks by armed extremist groups on the town of Damasak, in northeast Nigeria, have forced 65,000 people – 80 percent of the town’s population – to flee. Since the attacks began on 11 April at least eight people have been killed and dozens wounded. The armed groups looted and burned down houses, as well as offices and warehouses of international humanitarian organizations, including a health clinic and UN Refugee Agency facility. Armed fighters also conducted house-to-house searches looking for aid workers.
Humanitarian operations in Damasak have largely been suspended as result of the violence, adversely affecting 8,800 internally displaced people and 76,000 people in host communities in the area. Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that these “humanitarian aid operations and facilities are the lifeline of people in northeast Nigeria who depend on our assistance to survive.”
Over the past year, humanitarian organizations have become the focus of recurring attacks by armed extremist groups operating in Nigeria. On 2 March alleged fighters from the so-called Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) attacked a UN base and overran a humanitarian hub in the north-east, trapping 25 aid workers. In response to this attack, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, stressed that, “civilians and aid workers, their facilities and assets should never be a target. They must be protected and respected at all times.”
While no group has claimed responsibility for the assault on Damasak, both Boko Haram and ISWA continue to conduct attacks in the north-east and have killed at least 3,000 people since January 2018.
Intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, materials or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance operation is a war crime. Recurring attacks on humanitarian workers demonstrates the need for the Nigerian authorities to radically improve security in the north-east. The Nigerian government also needs to expand programs that directly address grievances that armed extremist groups exploit for recruitment, such as poverty, endemic corruption, youth unemployment and environmental degradation..."
Source/publisher:
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication:
2021-04-21
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and Burma/Myanmar, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, ASEAN-Burma relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG)
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Description:
"Five-Point Consensus:
On the situation in Myanmar, the Leaders reached consensus on the
following:
• First, there shall be immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar
and all parties shall exercise utmost restraint.
• Second, constructive dialogue among all parties concerned shall
commence to seek a peaceful solution in the interests of the people.
• Third, a special envoy of the ASEAN Chair shall facilitate mediation
of the dialogue process, with the assistance of the SecretaryGeneral of ASEAN.
• Fourth, ASEAN shall provide humanitarian assistance through the
AHA Centre.
• Fifth, the special envoy and delegation shall visit Myanmar to meet
with all parties concerned..."
Source/publisher:
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Jakarta)
Date of publication:
2021-04-24
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Description:
"“CARE urges all ASEAN member states to use the summit in Jakarta on 24 April to push Myanmar’s military authorities to end all violations against people in Myanmar and ensure unfettered access for aid agencies. The humanitarian situation in Myanmar has deteriorated starkly since the 1 February coup, with food insecurity and conflict-related displacement on the rise. The impact on the public health system is of grave concern, particularly given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“The fallout of the coup threatens to spark a wider regional crisis with thousands of people already fleeing across international borders in search of safety. CARE implores neighbouring countries to grant refuge to those escaping violence and refrain from pushing back people in need of protection.
“The pre-monsoon cyclone season, which has just started in Myanmar, threatens to exacerbate the already desperate humanitarian situation. We know that women, girls and other vulnerable groups are often disproportionately affected during emergencies. CARE and other aid agencies must be granted access to any affected communities to avert a complete humanitarian catastrophe.
“ASEAN member states must work together, with other countries in the region and the international community, to find a durable and peaceful solution to this crisis. The girls, boys, women and men of Myanmar depend on it.”
Founded in 1945, CARE is one of the largest and oldest humanitarian aid organisations fighting global poverty. CARE has a special focus on empowering and meeting the needs of women and girls and promoting gender equality and works in 100 countries around the world.
For media enquiries contact:
Suzy Sainovski (based in Melbourne, Australia)
Asia Pacific Regional Communications & Media Advisor, CARE International
Email: [email protected]
Skype: suzy.sainovski
Mobile: + 61 3 429 418 353..."
Source/publisher:
Care International (Geneva) "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication:
2021-04-22
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, ASEAN-Burma relations, Humanitarian assistance - emergencies, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Topic:
Protection and Human Rights
Sub-title:
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on Monday for leaders in Asia to bolster efforts towards finding a peaceful solution to the bloody crisis in Myanmar, sparked by the military coup in February.
Topic:
Protection and Human Rights
Description:
Speaking during a Security Council meeting on cooperation between the UN and regional and sub-regional organizations, he highlighted the relationship with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), underlining the bloc's important role in diplomacy, conflict prevention and peacebuilding.....Crucial role in urgent crisis: "Today, ASEAN's role is more crucial than ever as the region faces an urgent crisis in Myanmar", Mr. Guterres said. "I have repeatedly called on the international community to work, collectively and through bilateral channels, to help bring an end to the violence and the repression by the military."
In this regard, UN cooperation with ASEAN is vital, the Secretary-General said, as the situation requires a robust international response grounded in a unified regional effort.
"I urge regional actors to leverage their influence to prevent further deterioration and, ultimately, find a peaceful way out of this catastrophe.".....UN envoy stands ready: Mr. Guterres told ambassadors that his Special Envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, is in the region and stands ready to resume dialogue with the military and others, "and to contribute to a return of Myanmar to the democratic path, and to peace and stability."
Ms. Schraner Burgener arrived in Bangkok on 9 April, according to her Twitter account.
In a post last Tuesday marking the Burmese New Year, Thingyan, she wrote "Thingyan should be a celebration of joy, but unfortunately there is nothing to celebrate in Myanmar. I hope it is true that sprinkling water washes away sins. So many sins have been committed since 1st February. I hope to celebrate Thingyan with all released again in the future.".....Cooperation continues to grow: The Security Council debate, held online, focused on an issue which the Secretary-General said has been a key priority since he took office four years ago.
Cooperation between the UN and regional and sub-regional organizations has "grown exponentially" since its founding in 1945, he said, encompassing areas that include preventive diplomacy, mediation, counterterrorism, peacekeeping and promoting human rights, but also combating climate change and now the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Guterres provided examples of this partnership across several continents, showcasing how working together can support countries to manage complex political transitions and find sustainable solutions to political challenges.
In Sudan, for example, the UN supported the African Union (AU) and Ethiopia in facilitating negotiations which led to the establishment of the transitional government.....Multilateralism the only way:"As we continue to support Sudan in its efforts towards democratic governance and an inclusive society, our collaboration remains essential", he said.
The Secretary-General said strengthening UN partnerships with regional and sub-regional organizations is integral to his vision for "a networked multilateralism".
Despite the pandemic, he convened heads of regional organizations for a virtual dialogue last November, to shore up collaboration during crises.
"I am committed to pursuing an even closer engagement to promote confidence-building and dialogue, in conflict prevention, management and resolution", he said.
"We can only address our world's current and future challenges, including those exposed and heightened by COVID-19, through ambitious and coordinated multilateral action."
Source/publisher:
UN News via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication:
2021-04-19
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-26
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Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, ASEAN-Burma relations, Human Rights and international relations, The UN and Burma - news and commentary
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ASEAN leaders called on the Myanmar junta to end violence against citizens. At the Jakarta summit, the regional group agreed to appoint an envoy to tackle the deadly crisis.
Description:
"Myanmar's neighbors will appoint a special envoy to try to resolve the political crisis sparked by the military coup in the country, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Saturday.
The ASEAN regional grouping agreed on the move during crisis talks in Jakarta, attended by leaders from the 10 Southeast Asian member states.
ASEAN to send a delegation to Myanmar
Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing made his first trip abroad since the coup on February 1 to take part in the talks. He did not make a formal statement. However, the organization said it had reached a consensus on sending a delegation and the envoy to Myanmar.
"The first requested commitment is for the Myanmar military to stop the use of violence and that all parties there at the same time must refrain so that tensions will be reduced," Widodo said. "The violence must be stopped and democracy, stability and peace in Myanmar must be restored."
"An inclusive dialogue process must be started. Political prisoners must be released immediately," he said, adding that a special envoy from ASEAN needed to be appointed to push for such dialogue.
Widodo also said Myanmar's military must open access to humanitarian aid.
Malaysia leader hails progress 'beyond our expectation'
Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said Myanmar accepted the proposal to stop violence against civilians, according to state news agency Bernama. He called the meeting a success: "We have succeeded. It's beyond our expectation in getting the outcome from today's meeting."
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called on Myanmar to allow an ASEAN delegation and the United Nations special envoy to visit the country, in comments carried by Channel NewsAsia.
The junta has launched a bloody crackdown on protests which has left more than 700 people dead. The United Nations estimates that about 250,000 people have been displaced..."
Source/publisher:
"DW News" (Germany)
Date of publication:
2021-04-24
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-25
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Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Burma/Myanmar's Foreign relations, general
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"Southeast Asian leaders said they had agreed on a plan with Myanmar's junta chief on Saturday to end the crisis in the violence-hit nation, but he did not explicitly respond to demands to halt the killing of civilian protesters.
"It's beyond our expectation," Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin told reporters after the leaders' meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that was also attended by Myanmar's Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
"We tried not to accuse his side too much because we don't care who's causing it," Muhyiddin added. "We just stressed that the violence must stop. For him, it's the other side that's causing the problems. But he agreed that violence must stop."
ASEAN leaders wanted a commitment from Min Aung Hlaing to restrain his security forces, which an activist monitoring group says have killed 745 people since a mass civil disobedience movement erupted to challenge his Feb. 1 coup. They also wanted the release of political prisoners.
"He did not reject what was put forward by me and many other colleagues," Muhyiddin said.
According to a statement from group chair Brunei, a consensus was reached on five points - ending violence, a constructive dialogue among all parties, a special ASEAN envoy to facilitate the dialogue, acceptance of aid and a visit by the envoy to Myanmar. The five-point consensus did not mention political prisoners, although the chairman's statement said the meeting "heard calls" for their release.
"He (Min Aung Hlaing) said he heard us, he would take the point in, which he considered helpful," Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told reporters.
"He was not opposed to ASEAN playing a constructive role, or an ASEAN delegation visit, or humanitarian assistance."
But Lee added the process had a long way to go, "because it is one thing to say you will cease violence and release political prisoners, it is another thing to get it done".
It was not clear why Lee referred to the release of political prisoners when this was not in the five consensus points.
There was no immediate comment from Min Aung Hlaing.
A regular nighttime news bulletin on the military-run Myawaddy TV reported his attendance of the meeting and said Myanmar would closely cooperate with ASEAN on various issues, including "the political transition in Myanmar, and the process that will be implemented in the future".
Charles Santiago, head of the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights group, called for the release of Myanmar's political prisoners and a timeline for an end to violence.
"ASEAN must now act swiftly and set a clear timeline for Min Aung Hlaing to deliver on ending the violence, or stand ready to hold him accountable," he said.
'RESTORE DEMOCRACY'
The ASEAN gathering was the first coordinated international effort to ease the crisis in Myanmar, an impoverished country that neighbours China, India and Thailand, since the coup that overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government. Myanmar is part of the 10-nation ASEAN, which has a policy of consensus decision-making and non-interference in the affairs of its members.
Myanmar's parallel National Unity Government (NUG), comprised of pro-democracy figures, remnants of Suu Kyi's ousted administration and representatives of armed ethnic groups, said it welcomed the consensus reached but said the junta had to be held to its promises.
"We look forward to firm action by ASEAN to follow up its decisions and to restore our democracy," said Dr. Sasa, spokesman for the NUG.
It was unusual for the leader of a military government in Myanmar to attend an ASEAN summit - usually the country has been represented by a lower-ranked officer or a civilian.
The leaders of Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Brunei were at the meeting, along with the foreign ministers of Laos, Thailand and the Philippines.
While ASEAN's non-interference policy makes it difficult to tackle contentious issues, the body is seen by the United Nations, China and the United States as best placed to deal with the junta directly.
"We in the [@UN] Security Council eagerly await the outcome of the @ASEAN meeting on Burma, which deserves serious and immediate attention," U.S Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield tweeted..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-04-25
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
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ASEAN-Burma relations, Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Leaders of nine Southeast Asian countries on Saturday called for an immediate end to the violence in Myanmar, where the military government has cracked down violently on the enormous protests over its February coup.
At an emergency summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations held in Jakarta, Indonesia's president called the situation in Myanmar "unacceptable."
"The violence must be stopped and democracy, stability and peace in Myanmar must be restored," President Joko Widodo said.
Hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters have demonstrated in the months since Myanmar's military seized full control of the country from the democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
In response, the military has imposed Internet blackouts, arrested thousands and fired on protesters. At least 748 people have been killed and 3,389 are being detained, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Burmese human rights group based in Thailand.
The official statement released Saturday by ASEAN leaders makes five demands of the military junta, including an "immediate cessation" of the violence and a peaceful solution to the situation via "constructive dialogue," mediated by a special envoy appointed by ASEAN. The leaders also demanded that Myanmar's military government allow the arrival of humanitarian assistance.
The military's leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who was in attendance, did not make a public statement. The summit was his first trip outside Myanmar since the coup.
The invitation of the general was criticized by opponents of the coup, including the new National Unity Government in Myanmar, formed earlier this month by pro-democracy politicians who have named the deposed democratic leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, as their leaders.
The National Unity Government argued the general's invitation risked legitimizing the military coup and had called on Interpol to arrest General Min Aung Hlaing upon his arrival in Jakarta.
In a statement released after the summit, the group's spokesperson, Dr. Sasa, praised ASEAN's actions.
"We welcome the encouraging news that ASEAN leaders have reached consensus that the military violence in Myanmar must stop and political prisoners released," Sasa said. "... We look forward to firm action by ASEAN to follow up its decisions and restore our democracy and freedom for our people and our region."
ASEAN has traditionally defaulted to a more hands-off approach to the internal affairs of its 10 member nations. In the days after the coup in February, the bloc issued a statement urging a "return to normalcy" but stopped short of explicit condemnation.
But ahead of Saturday's summit, pro-democracy advocates and organizations urged ASEAN to take a stronger stand.
"This is not an internal matter for Myanmar but a major human rights and humanitarian crisis which is impacting the entire region and beyond," said Emerlynne Gil of Amnesty International ahead of Saturday's summit.
Myanmar's deposed ambassador to the United Nations, Kyaw Moe Tun, who drew international praise for denouncing the coup in a remarkable speech before the U.N. General Assembly in February, pleaded with ASEAN to prioritize civilians.
"Whatever the decision made by the leaders of the ASEAN, they should take into account the saving lives of innocent civilians in Myanmar and providing humanitarian assistance to the people in need," Kyaw Moe Tun said in an interview with Al-Jazeera ahead of Saturday's summit.
In Myanmar, protests have mostly quieted in recent weeks due to the crackdowns. According to The Associated Press, some 150 protesters gathered Friday in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, but dispersed quickly when police arrived..."
Source/publisher:
National Public Radio (Washington, D.C.)
Date of publication:
2021-04-24
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Anti-coup protesters, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Asean says consensus with junta was ‘beyond expectations’, but there is no timeline or explicit commitment to stop violence
Description:
"Human Rights Watch has told south-east Asian leaders not to “pat themselves on the back” for getting Myanmar’s military rulers to agree to end deadly violence, saying a consensus reached by Asean lacks specifics and makes no mention of freeing political prisoners.
Nearly 750 protesters have been killed since the military seized power in a 1 February coup. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations announced after a summit on Saturday that the head of Myanmar’s junta had agreed to stop the violence. The Malaysian prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, who attended the meeting, said the outcome was “beyond our expectation”.
But Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch said: “Asean cannot paper over the fact that there is no agreement for the Myanmar junta to release the more than 3,330 political prisoners currently in detention in the country, including senior political figures who presumably would be involved in any negotiated solution to the crisis,” he said.
“Not only were the representatives of the Myanmar people not invited to the Jakarta meeting but they also got left out of the consensus that Asean is now patting itself on the back for reaching.”
Robertson said Asean had to ensure the agreement was honoured, and called for further sanctions against the junta leaders.
“The lack of a clear timeline for action, and Asean’s well known weakness in implementing the decisions and plans that it issues, are real concerns that no one should overlook,” he said.
A statement released by Asean – whose meeting marked the first concerted international effort to find a resolution to the crisis – said it was agreed there should be constructive dialogue and an immediate end to violence.
The group would also provide humanitarian assistance, and a special envoy would be appointed to meet with all concerned parties.
On Saturday, as Myanmar’s military leader Min Aung Hlaing attended the meeting in Jakarta, soldiers and police fired on protesters near Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, according to reports by Agence France-Presse. One 50-year-old protester was held by the police and shot dead by a soldier, an eyewitness told the news agency.
Tom Andrews, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said he was anxious to work with Asean’s special envoy and monitor the results of the summit.
“The result of the Asean summit will be found in Myanmar, not a document,” he said. “Will the killing stop? Will the terrorising of neighbourhoods end? Will the thousands abducted be released? Will impunity persist?”
Charles Santiago, head of the Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights group, also stressed the need to ensure the commitments were implemented urgently.
“How willing Asean is in responding seriously to the Myanmar crisis is dependent on them holding Min Aung Hlaing to account, ensuring he does not take them for a ride, and delivers on the agreed points. We must not see a scenario where Min Aung Hlaing endlessly delays action, or controls who they talk to and deliver aid to,” said Santiago.
Asean’s decision to invite Min Aung Hlaing to its meeting in Jakarta attracted criticism from Burmese activists and rights experts, who said it risked legitimising the coup.
Since seizing power on 1 February the junta has killed 748 civilians, according to an advocacy group, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma. This includes dozens of children. At least 3,389 people are currently in detention or have been sentenced, including Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party won the November election in a landslide victory.
“We tried not to accuse his side too much because we don’t care who’s causing it,” Muhyiddin said of the junta chief, according to reports by Reuters. “We just stressed that the violence must stop. For him, it’s the other side that’s causing the problems. But he agreed that violence must stop.”
Dr Sasa, spokesman for Myanmar’s national unity government, which was set up by pro-democracy politicians and includes elected officials who have been detained, said he welcomed the agreement, adding: “We look forward to firm action by Asean to follow up its decisions and to restore our democracy and freedom for our people and for the region.”
Military-controlled Myawaddy TV reported Min Aung Hlaing had attended the meeting, and said Myanmar would closely cooperate with Asean on various issues, including “the political transition in Myanmar, and the process that will be implemented in the future”.
The leaders of Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Brunei were present at the meeting, along with the foreign ministers of Laos, Thailand and the Philippines..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-04-25
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
Five-point consensus includes end to violence and a special envoy after talks attended by junta chief
Description:
"Asean leaders have agreed to a five-point consensus on the crisis in Myanmar, including an immediate end to violence, according to a statement released at the end of talks held on Saturday in the Indonesian capital.
The consensus also included allowing humanitarian help in the country, releasing political prisoners and appointing a special Asean envoy for the Myanmar crisis.
The agreement came even as the military cracked down on anti-coup protesters on Saturday, killing at least one person in the capital Nay Pyi Taw, according to a witness.
Myanmar’s parallel National Unity Government (NUG), said it welcomed the “encouraging” news of the consensus among leaders of the 10-country bloc.
The NUG “looked forward to firm action by Asean to follow up on its decisions and to restore our democracy and freedom for our people,” Dr Sasa, its spokesman and minister of international cooperation, said in a statement.
Formed last month, the NUG includes pro-democracy figures, remnants of Aung San Suu Kyi’s ousted administration and representatives of armed ethnic groups. It says it is the legitimate authority in Myanmar but it was not invited to Saturday’s meeting.
Min Aung Hlaing, the army chief who led the Feb 1 coup, attended the talks, which were closed to the news media.
Leaders who spoke afterward expressed cautious optimism that a way forward might be found, following nearly three months of turmoil in which 740 people have been killed by security forces and at least 3,000 imprisoned.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Min Aung Hlaing was not opposed to a visit by a delegation from Asean.
“He said he heard us, he would take the points in which he considered helpful, that he was not opposed to Asean playing a constructive role, or an Asean delegation visit, or humanitarian assistance, and that they would move forward and engage with Asean in a constructive way,” Lee said in comments reported by Channel NewsAsia on its website.
Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin declared the meeting a success, noting the junta chief’s agreement to end violence.
“We have succeeded. It’s beyond our expectation in getting the outcome from today’s meeting,” the Bernama news agency quoted him as saying.
The text of a speech delivered by Mr Muhyiddin indicated that Min Aung Hlaing heard some pointed criticism during the closed-door session.
“There is an echo of distress among Asean member states to learn, on a daily basis, what is unfolding in Myanmar,” the Malaysian premier was reported to have said. “Many around the world want an explanation and we are finding it increasingly tough to explain.”
“The deplorable situation in Myanmar must stop immediately.”
Indonesian president Joko Widodo reiterated his position that the junta must release all political prisoners if any progress toward peace is to be made.
Diplomats and government officials who asked not to be named said many Asean leaders came into the talks wanting a commitment from Min Aung Hlaing to restrain his security forces.
“This is what Myanmar must avoid: geographical, political, social and national disintegration into warring ethnic parts,” said Philippines Foreign Secretary Teddy Locsin on Twitter. “Myanmar on its own must find peace again.”
Saturday’s talks were attended by most heads of government, but Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha sent Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai to represent him. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte also sent his foreign minister.
Small protests outside the Asean Secretariat headquarters in Jakarta were dispersed by security personnel. (story continues below).....‘Murderer-in-chief’:Min Aung Hlaing’s presence in Jakarta angered activists, human rights groups and the National Unity Government.
“Meetings that contribute to a solution to the deepening crisis in Myanmar are welcome,” the latter said in a statement released earlier on Saturday.
“(But) meetings that exclude the people of Myanmar but include murderer-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing … are unlikely to be helpful.”
The lawmakers called on the junta to “stop murdering civilians”, release more than 3,000 political prisoners and return power to the country’s democratically elected government.
“The crisis initiated by a murderous and unrepentant Myanmar military has engulfed the country, and will cause severe aftershocks — humanitarian and more — for the entire region,” the rights group Amnesty International said ahead of the meeting.
“The Indonesian authorities are duty-bound to investigate Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and other Myanmar military officials who may join his delegation to Jakarta.”.....‘Be realistic’: But Asean generally takes a hands-off approach to members’ internal affairs.
Few analysts were expecting major breakthroughs from the meeting, saying instead it represented a chance to bring Myanmar’s military to the table and pave the way for a possible resolution.
“We have to be realistic here. I don’t think the summit is going to bear out a full-blown plan on how to get Myanmar out of the conflict,” said Mustafa Izzuddin, senior international affairs analyst at Solaris Strategies Singapore.
“But rather I think it will start the conversation and perhaps lay the parameters as to how a resolution could be found.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Bangkok Post" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2021-04-24
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma
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"Myanmar's military commander has traveled to Indonesia for an emergency summit of regional leaders. It's the first time General Min Aung Hlaing has left Myanmar since the army seized power from the civilian government at the beginning of February. Other leaders are set to press for an end to the violent crackdown on pro-democracy activists.According to rights groups, hundreds of people have been killed during protests. But demonstrators say they refuse to back down until their elected leaders are freed.More than 700 people have been killed since the military seized power in a coup on February first. In spite of the danger, demonstrators take to the streets almost daily to protest against the military regime - and demand a return to democracy. The country's deposed civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, remains in detention, as do thousands of political prisoners rounded up by police.Last week, opposition groups and ethnic minorities joined forces to form a new 'National Unity Government.'In addition to deaths and arrests, the crackdown has also displaced an estimated quarter of a million people. The UN says the situation in Myanmar poses a regional security risk, and is urging ASEAN countries to take action.Pro-democracy activists have been calling for a tougher international response to the coup. The ASEAN summit will be a test of what Myanmar's neighbors are willing to do.Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/user/deutsche..."
Source/publisher:
"DW News" (Germany)
Date of publication:
2021-04-24
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports
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"We welcome the encouraging news that ASEAN leaders have reached
consensus that the military violence in Myanmar must stop and political prisoners be released.This is what the National Unity Government has been calling for. We eagerly await the engagement by the Asian Secretary General as mandated by this meeting.
We appreciate the strong words from President Widodo of Indonesia calling for the release of our heroes. We look forward to firm action by ASEAN to follow up its ecisions and to restore our democracy and freedom for our people and for the region. Dr. Sasa
Union Minister of International Cooperation and Spokesperson
National Unity Government of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Dr. Sasa
Date of publication:
2021-04-24
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2021-04-24
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"Southeast Asian leaders will try to forge a path to end violence and instability in Myanmar at a summit on Saturday expected to include Min Aung Hlaing, the general in charge of the military takeover in February that sparked bloodshed and economic chaos.
The gathering of leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta is the first coordinated international effort to ease the crisis in Myanmar, an impoverished country that neighbours China, India and Thailand, and was ruled by the military from 1962-2011.
With participants attending in person despite the pandemic, Indonesia's foreign minister Retno Marsudi said on Friday that the summit reflected the "deep concern about the situation in Myanmar and ASEAN's determination to help Myanmar get out of this delicate situation".
"We hope that tomorrow's (summit) will reach an agreement regarding steps that are good for the people of Myanmar," she said.
Marsudi's Singaporen counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan, who is also in Jakarta, said ASEAN's leaders "will discuss the pressing need to address the grave and deeply concerning situation in Myanmar".
Diplomats and government officials who asked not to be named said many ASEAN leaders want a commitment from Min Aung Hlaing to restrain his security forces, who monitors say have killed 745 people since a mass civil disobedience movement emerged to challenge his Feb. 1 coup against Aung San Suu Kyi's government.
Min Aung Hlaing, on his first foreign trip since the coup, will address the summit along with each of the participants before more informal discussions begin, said three sources familiar with procedures.
Only a few officials will be present at the "intimate" meeting, one source said.
PUSH FOR DIALOGUE
ASEAN officials and diplomats have also worked on an initiative to send a humanitarian aid mission to Myanmar and appoint an envoy to encourage dialogue between the junta and the ousted lawmakers and ethnic groups who have formed an opposition National Unity Government (NUG).
The leaders of Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Brunei, the chair, have confirmed their attendance, along with the foreign ministers of Thailand and the Philippines.
Myanmar's nightly news bulletin on state television on Friday made no mention of the ASEAN meeting.
ASEAN has a policy of consensus decision-making and non-interference in the affairs of its members, which include Myanmar.
While that makes it difficult to tackle contentious issues, the body is seen by the United Nations, China and the United States as best placed to deal with the junta directly.
The summit, called for by Indonesia's president Joko Widodo last month, is a departure from the tightly choreographed leaders' meetings that are typical of ASEAN, said Evan Laksmana, a Jakarta-based security analyst.
"There is no precedent, especially given the expressed intent to discuss the problems of one member state."
A spokesman for the NUG, which is not attending the summit, told Reuters the group had "been in contact with ASEAN leaders".
Dr. Sasa, an international envoy for the NUG, who goes by one name, said ASEAN should insist the military stops killing civilians, halts the bombing of villages in ethnic minority areas, releases political prisoners and hands power to the NUG..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-04-24
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Human Rights and international relations, National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Topic:
ASEAN, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, Aung San Suu Kyi, Block 2, Humanitarian Crisis, Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar Coup, Myanmar Crisis, National Unity Government
Sub-title:
Bloc's extraordinary Myanmar crisis meeting on April 24 could be the last diplomatic chance to prevent a regional catastrophe
Topic:
ASEAN, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, Aung San Suu Kyi, Block 2, Humanitarian Crisis, Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar Coup, Myanmar Crisis, National Unity Government
Description:
"When Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders meet in Jakarta to discuss the worsening political crisis in Myanmar on April 24, it will mark the first time that the regional organization holds a highest-level meeting to address a specific situation of concern involving one of its members.
Non-interference in domestic affairs has traditionally been one of ASEAN’s basic operating principles, along with decision-making by consensus. As such, Saturday’s summit is seen as a test of the grouping’s code of constraint as regional leaders find themselves under mounting pressure to engineer a workable, face-saving resolution before the crisis spirals further out of control.
To be sure, the situation in Myanmar is on a knife’s edge. Its ruling military junta has intensified a brutal campaign of suppression in defiance of world condemnation. The cycle of protests and bloody crackdowns has left at least 738 people dead, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) monitoring group.
Inflexible repression by the Tatmadaw, as Myanmar’s military is known, has pushed segments of the urban-based protest movement into using low-level guerrilla warfare tactics, while escalating hostilities with ethnic armed forces in the north and east threaten a wider war on multiple fronts in the country’s borderlands.
The fear within ASEAN is that the worst is yet to come. As the region copes with a resurgent Covid-19 pandemic that continues to thwart broad-based economic recovery, the bloc faces the prospect of Myanmar’s civil strife escalating into a protracted Syria-like civil war and a humanitarian emergency that sends huge numbers of refugees over its borders.
The threat of a failed state emerging within mainland Southeast Asia has added impetus and imperative to ASEAN’s diplomacy. Should the regional grouping fail to act meaningfully, analysts say outside powers including the United States and China could be compelled to intervene, raising the possibility of Myanmar becoming a proxy theater for great power contestation.
Saturday’s meeting is expected to set the parameters for ASEAN taking on a mediating role in the crisis. “ASEAN will engage with all parties in Myanmar, but under what conditions will be made clearer at the summit this coming weekend,” said Alistair D B Cook, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
Following weeks of planning, the talks are seen as primarily aimed at seeking de-escalation and establishing conditions for dialogue between Myanmar’s military and the ousted civilian government led by the National League for Democracy (NLD), whose leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior figures remain in detention.
However, it’s not clear that a negotiated settlement would be acceptable to either side at this stage, with neither camp apparently willing to accept a compromise or return to the status quo ante. The Tatmadaw has shown no willingness to talk to members of the elected government it ousted, having ratcheted up its brutality despite appeals from its neighbors to refrain from violence.
At least seven ASEAN leaders are expected to attend the summit in Indonesia’s capital, with Thailand and the Philippines opting to send their foreign ministers. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, chairman of the junta’s State Administration Council (SAC) and architect of the February 1 coup d’etat, is expected to travel to Jakarta to participate in the face-to-face meeting. “The fact that there will be an ASEAN summit meeting on the crisis and that General Min Aung Hlaing will attend it is an important but only tentative step forward,” said Choi Shing Kwok, director of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore and head of its ASEAN Studies Centre.
“I expect ASEAN leaders to focus first on convincing Min Aung Hlaing to take a few short-term steps, including curtailing the violence against unarmed civilian protesters and exercising restraint in its dealings with its opponents,” he said. “Without such a break in the escalation in violence, no reconciliation of the political forces within the country is possible.”
Critics of the military takeover have condemned the general’s planned attendance at the summit, with some observers viewing the invitation to sit alongside other ASEAN leaders as tantamount to lending legitimacy to his regime’s democracy-suspending putsch, particularly in light of the recent establishment of a parallel authority by pro-democracy forces.
“The invitation to Min Aung Hlaing must be handled with extreme caution, and ASEAN must make it abundantly clear that he is not there as a representative of the Myanmar people, who totally reject his barbaric junta,” said Charles Santiago, chairperson of advocacy group ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).
Deposed members of Parliament, leaders of anti-coup protests and ethnic minority organizations announced on April 16 a National Unity Government (NUG), which says it is the country’s legitimate interim authority and has requested international recognition and an invitation to the ASEAN meeting in place of the junta leader.
Figures associated with the NUG, which previously referred to itself as the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), have said they were not consulted over the planned summit. Some regional foreign ministers and officials are known to have held back channel talks with Myanmar’s ousted lawmakers since the coup, however.
“ASEAN cannot adequately discuss the situation in Myanmar without hearing from and speaking to the National Unity Government. If ASEAN’s purpose really is to strengthen democracy, as stated by its Charter, they must give them a seat at the table,” said Santiago in a statement. “After all, they are the embodiment of democracy in Myanmar.”
Analysts expect ASEAN’s diplomats to continue their quiet diplomatic outreach with the NUG in the weeks ahead, but some say that the Tatmadaw’s leader may have refused to attend the regional summit if representatives of the parallel authority, which the junta regards as treasonous and unlawful, were also in attendance.
“The call by the CRPH for ASEAN not to meet with MAH [Min Aung Hlaing] is an attempt to gain the diplomatic upper hand over the SAC, but acceding to it will be tantamount to an abandonment of any meaningful role by ASEAN,” said Choi, echoing the view that any practical de-escalation of the situation requires direct engagement with the military’s leader.
“The formation of a NUG is still in its early stages and it remains to be seen if the other opposition forces in the country will accept it as the legitimate political authority. Should it be able to establish this in due course, ASEAN will certainly have to take its views and participation into account in any future reconciliation process,” Choi added.
Proposals being considered for the summit reportedly include a humanitarian aid mission that would entail a pause in hostilities and delivery of medical supplies needed to counter Covid-19 as well as food aid. The appointment of a special envoy who would negotiate with the military junta and members of the deposed elected government is also reportedly under consideration.
Naypyidaw has thus far refused to allow the United Nation’s special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, to visit the country. Burgener will reportedly be in Jakarta to engage ASEAN leaders on the sidelines of Saturday’s summit.
While still regarded as the best hope for a diplomatic solution, the 10-member grouping’s record in tackling regional human rights crises has been abysmal. ASEAN states are already clearly divided on Myanmar’s crisis, with some of its members describing the junta’s bloody consolidation of power as an “internal matter.”
Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and, more recently, the Philippines have censured the junta in uncharacteristically strong terms and called for the release of Suu Kyi and other political detainees, a step that the bloc itself has eschewed.
Others have taken a more ambiguous position. Thailand, which shares a porous border with Myanmar and clearly fears a fresh influx of refugees, hasn’t openly criticized the coup but has tellingly said it is “gravely concerned” about escalating bloodshed and has more recently called for dialogue between the Tatmadaw and NLD.
Hunter Marston, a PhD candidate at the Australian National University, said he anticipates that the summit will expose rifts within ASEAN on democratic and autocratic lines. “I do not expect a univocal response strong enough to convince Min Aung Hlaing that his regime has gone too far and will be held to account.”
By ignoring the NUG’s entreaty to attend the summit, ASEAN has put itself in the awkward position of “effectively treating Min Aung Hlaing as the representative of Myanmar’s government even as certain members call for the release of elected leaders and a return to democracy in the country,” he added.
Marston said some ASEAN states at least appeared reluctant to recognize the senior general as the legitimate leader of Myanmar. The Canberra-based academic said outside powers such as the United States, the European Union and others could soon opt to extend diplomatic recognition to the NUG, but aren’t ready to do so yet.
The NUG aims to establish a federal democratic system, but isn’t yet materially able to support a nationwide parallel administration. Outside powers are thus “waiting to see how much of a following [the NUG] have, what resources they’re able to command, and whether they can effectively claim to govern Myanmar given the current state of chaos,” said Marston.
Elina Noor, director for political-security affairs and deputy director at the Asia Society Policy Institute in Washington DC, said there will be pressures on, but also an inclination by, Western liberal democracies, in particular, to recognize the NUG as Myanmar’s legitimate government, which could allow it to access country funds now punitively frozen in overseas banking systems.
The US, for one, is now holding over US$1 billion worth of Myanmar state funds.
“If this happens, ASEAN will be in an even more difficult position since the UN and ASEAN’s own dialogue partners have all expressed support for the grouping’s key role in this crisis. ASEAN centrality will be further questioned if a split on recognition happens in the international community,” she told Asia Times.
ASEAN centrality refers to the notion that the regional grouping and its associated mechanisms should serve as the core institutional platform through which disputes are managed and wider diplomacy with outside powers is advanced. That centrality, observers argue, risks being undermined by ASEAN’s inability to manage affairs within its region.
“If the violence can be stopped and some interim mechanism of dialogue can be agreed upon involving the NUG, then ASEAN can help play a constructive, bridging role in charting a more sustainable roadmap ahead for Myanmar,” Noor said.
In a recent op-ed published by the Jakarta Post, Noor said that while ASEAN must deal with the military junta as the de facto party in power in order to realistically address the situation, Myanmar’s suspension from ASEAN should be a consideration, particularly if the regime remains intransigent and rebuffs regional efforts to reach a solution.
While suspending Myanmar from the bloc at a time of worsening violence could seem unconstructive and cause ASEAN to lose its leverage with the junta, Noor said Southeast Asian governments could be better off continuing their engagement with the Tatmadaw outside rather than within the ASEAN framework.
“The solution may be to unshackle ASEAN member states from the constraining formalities of organizational bureaucracy while still working closely behind the scenes plurilaterally, as is effectively the case now,” she said.
Noor added that engagement, rather than isolation, would in any case help to affirm ASEAN centrality and stave off external interventions.
“If Myanmar teeters on the brink of civil war or if there is protracted bloodshed, there is a risk external powers will feel compelled to intervene and not completely for altruistic reasons, either,” she said. “This would be a worst-case scenario, in which major powers would carve out spheres and territories of influence in Myanmar as well as in the region.
“That is why it is imperative for ASEAN to set the stage this weekend by demonstrating effectiveness, even if it’s just to stop the ongoing violence so that mediation can begin. It won’t be enough for the people of Myanmar who voted in a different government, but it will be a necessary precondition for some kind of change on the ground.”
Should the crisis in Myanmar escalate and ASEAN’s attempt to broker a solution falter, analysts believe it is possible that the case for external military intervention, potentially in the form of missile strikes against military targets, could be seriously considered by Washington and its allies in a bid to pressure Naypyidaw to the negotiating table.
The possibility of such an escalation is still seen as remote given that Washington has so far been broadly content to leave the crisis to ASEAN. The situation in Myanmar, moreover, isn’t deemed as being of critical strategic importance to the US, and military intervention would almost certainly spark divisions among the Washington-led Quad alliance.
“The appetite for and effectiveness of foreign military intervention by the major powers is very much in question today,” said ISEAS’ director Choi. “With the Tatmadaw being fiercely independent and having the option to play one major power off against another, it is highly questionable what kind of effective intervention any power could mount.”
ASEAN’s approach, “whatever it may be called, therefore remains an attractive option for the international community to rally behind, though its ability to deliver is not guaranteed,” Choi added.
He expects “only modest progress” at the weekend’s summit, with the main aim being to persuade Min Aung Hlaing to accept a process towards a mediated reconciliation, which could also include the involvement of other international stakeholders.
“The situation in Myanmar is at a point where it could get a lot worse before it gets better,” Choi lamented. “ASEAN’s record in the past has been to continue engaging rather than to close doors when there is still hope for improvement. Having said that, the situation is so open-ended that I believe anything is possible and nothing can be ruled out.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2021-04-23
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG)
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"On principle, the meetings that can contribute to a solution to the deepening crisis in Myanmar are welcome, meetings that exclude the people of Myanmar but include murderer in chief Min Aung Hlaing who is murdering the people of Myanmar are unlikely to be helpful.
The legitimate representatives of the people and country of Myanmar, the National Unity Government (NUG) stands ready to engage and attend any ASEAN meeting on Myanmar, including the one scheduled for April the 24th that starts in less than 24 hours. We firmly believe that a meeting on Myanmar should not include illegal, illegitimate military junta unless the following serious conditions are met. The military junta must meets the following conditions and demonstrates that it is adhering to them. This is the only way to restore democracy, stability and prevent the great civil war that will end in genocide.
1. Stop murdering civilians. The junta has killed over 740 Myanmar civilians since the coup and the number of its victims increase daily;
2. Stop systematically attacking neighborhoods and randomly discharging weapons into civilians' homes that have claimed the lives of many civilians, including children;
3. Stop bombing and shelling villages, which has caused significant casualties and has led to tens of thousands of civilians being displaced;
4. Stop preventing those who need medical care from receiving it, including agreeing to immediately stop: (i) occupying medical facilities, (ii) arresting and attacking medical personnel, and (iii) preventing emergency medical personnel from reaching victims;
5. Unconditionally release the over 3,300 political prisoners detained since the coup and stop arbitrarily detaining protesters, CDM members and others who are exercising
their fundamental right to the freedom of expression.
6. End the coup, end all violence and return the power to elected Government of Myanmar- t he National Unity Government -NUG
We once again express our sincere appreciation to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) willingness to help Myanmar address the crisis that has gripped our nation, and
indeed our region, following the illegal coup d'etat on 1 February.
Dr.Sasa Union Minister of International Cooperation and Spokesperson National Unity Government of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Dr. Sasa via National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-04-23
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, National Unity Government (NUG), Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Asean, Emergency Meeting On Myanmar, Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar Coup
Topic:
Asean, Emergency Meeting On Myanmar, Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar Coup
Description:
"On April 24, ASEAN is set to hold an emergency meeting in Jakarta on the political crisis in Myanmar. On February 1 the Myanmar military, led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, took over the country’s government after alleging there were irregularities in last November’s elections.
There is no evidence of mass voter fraud and since taking power the military has imposed draconian measures to silence resistance to the takeover, including curfews, internet blackouts and bans on social gatherings.
Amid waves of mass protest, security forces have also killed over 700 people—a number the military disputes. With a global spotlight on the situation, ASEAN’s meeting is an attempt to work towards a resolution of the political impasse.
In the runup to the meeting, however, there has been considerable handwringing by activists and observers as to the role ASEAN is prepared to play in the conflict.
Activists aligned with Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement are concerned that by inviting Min Aung Hlaing to the summit, ASEAN legitimizes the military’s actions on the international stage, including its use of deadly force against its own population.
They also argue that by ignoring Myanmar’s shadow government, an organization called the National Unity Government (NUG) made up of the country’s duly elected leaders, ASEAN is dismissing the stakeholders that have a legitimate say in the country’s future.
With that said, despite the injustice and authoritarianism of the military government, not inviting them to the meeting would likely make Myanmar’s political situation worse.
Although disinviting Min Aung Hlaing would be a snub to the military government—and a cathartic moment for activists—the reality is that the junta holds power in Myanmar.
Without his attendance at the meeting, ASEAN leaders would be abandoning an opportunity to apply direct diplomatic pressure.
Instead of decrying the attendance of junta leaders at ASEAN’s meeting, pro-democracy advocates should focus on the way the bloc interacts with Myanmar’s military government when the meeting takes place.....ASEAN needs to walk a fine line given democratic norms in the region: The metaphorical elephant in the room regarding ASEAN’s dealings with Myanmar’s junta is that a significant portion of the bloc is made up of countries with authoritarian leaders, who in some cases circumvented or altered the democratic process to gain power.
Cambodia’s Hun Sen, the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte and Thailand’s Prayuth Chan-ocha are the most glaring examples. After Thailand’s military took power in 2014, for instance, ASEAN’s response was muted and leaders in the region generally treated the coup as an internal matter.
Noninterference is a guiding principle of the bloc, as stated in ASEAN’s charter. This arguably gives the junta more confidence coming into the summit and they will doubtlessly claim that the crisis is a domestic issue that does not warrant outside interference.
One of the main issues following the coup in Myanmar, however, is the ongoing violence coupled with widespread international attention. This has put added pressure on ASEAN to help find a resolution to the crisis.
Amid the controversy surrounding the meeting, Thailand’s Prayuth announced that he would not be attending personally and instead would send his foreign minister, saying that other countries are also doing the same.
So far, only the Philippines has confirmed it intends to follow Thailand’s lead in sending its foreign minister. The heads of state of Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia, meanwhile, confirmed they would be attending.....ASEAN must engage the junta but that doesn’t mean they should treat it as a normal government: Although engagement with the junta is necessary, that doesn’t mean leaders can’t take steps to make the summit a meaningful step towards resolving the crisis in Myanmar. Short of inviting NUG leaders, ASEAN leaders could take smaller steps to ensure the military government doesn’t think the meeting is business-as-usual.
As suggested by pro-democracy activists, leaders in the region could express their position on the coup by ignoring the international titles of junta officials, such as foreign minister, in favor of referring to them as delegates of the military’s governing body, known as the State Administration Council (SAC).
Another idea is to allow member states to make their own official statements after the meeting instead of issuing only a single joint statement by ASEAN’s Chair. This would give member states a chance to clearly voice their disagreements with the junta.
Most importantly, despite ASEAN’s potential disagreements over the situation in Myanmar, the bloc must convey to Min Aung Hlaing and his government that the SAC’s actions not only push the region into further political disrepute but also threaten regional stability.
Alongside the language of noninterference in ASEAN’s charter is a commitment to adhere to the “principles of democracy…respect for and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
ASEAN has a duty to push for stable democracy, peace and security for the people of Myanmar. Directly engaging with those in charge on the ground in Myanmar, in a tactful and careful manner, is the best way to increase the likelihood that this happens..."
Source/publisher:
"ASEAN Today" (Singapore)
Date of publication:
2021-04-23
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG), Spring Revolution, Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports
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Topic:
WAR CRIMES AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
Topic:
WAR CRIMES AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
Description:
"The catastrophic aftermath of the Myanmar coup is the biggest test in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) history, said Amnesty International today, calling on the regional bloc to prioritise protecting the human rights of people in Myanmar and prevent the situation deteriorating into a human rights and humanitarian crisis.
The organization is also urging the Indonesian authorities and other ASEAN member states to investigate Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on credible allegations of responsibility for crimes against humanity in Myanmar. As a state party to the UN Convention Against Torture, Indonesia has a legal obligation to prosecute or extradite a suspected perpetrator on its territory.
“The Myanmar crisis trigged by the military presents ASEAN with the biggest test in its history. The bloc’s usual commitment to non-interference is a non-starter: this is not an internal matter for Myanmar but a major human rights and humanitarian crisis which is impacting the entire region and beyond,” said Emerlynne Gil, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Research
“The crisis initiated by a murderous and unrepentant Myanmar military has engulfed the country, and will cause severe aftershocks – humanitarian and more – for the entire region, particularly if the military can continue to commit serious violations and crimes with complete impunity.
“Moreover, the Indonesian authorities are duty-bound to investigate Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and other Myanmar military officials who may join his delegation to Jakarta.
“The extensively documented allegations against Myanmar’s coup leader, by the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, Amnesty International and many others, must be investigated. The Indonesian authorities and other ASEAN member states cannot ignore the fact Min Aung Hlaing is suspected of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole.”......ASEAN’s credibility on the line: In an open letter to ASEAN member states, Amnesty International highlights the fact that hundreds of people have been killed and thousands have been detained in the weeks following the 1 February military coup in Myanmar. The Myanmar military remains unmoved by the various calls from the international community and civil society organizations.
Myanmar’s economy is on its knees and expected to contract by up to 20%, while food prices increase and banking system disruptions and limited cash availability hinder humanitarian operations. The World Food Programme has warned that up to 3.4 million people in Myanmar face hunger in the next several months.
“The Myanmar military appears to be operating with the assumption of total impunity. The situation today is the direct result of a broader failure by the international community, including the ASEAN, to hold the Myanmar military to account for its past crimes.
“If not stopped, the violations committed by the Myanmar military will result in escalating violence and conflict, worsening inequality, hunger and mass displacement, including into ASEAN Member States – all amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Amnesty International urges the ASEAN and its Member States to work together and take immediate action to protect the people of Myanmar, prioritizing their human rights and to end impunity,” said Emerlynne Gil.
The need to end impunity: On 10 March 2021, after examining over 50 clips from the ongoing crackdown, Amnesty International found that the Myanmar military is using increasingly lethal tactics and weapons normally seen on the battlefield against peaceful protesters and bystanders across the country. Many of these killings amount to extrajudicial executions.
In a statement to the UN Human Rights Council on 11 March 2021, the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Tom Andrews, noted that the repression of peaceful protests since the coup likely meets the threshold of crimes against humanity.
In 2018, Amnesty International released a report containing extensive and credible evidence implicating Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and 12 other named individuals in crimes against humanity committed during the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya population in northern Rakhine State. Thousands of Rohingya women, men and children were murdered – bound and summarily executed; shot and killed while running away; or burned to death inside their homes. Rohingya women and girls were raped in their villages and as they fled to Bangladesh.
Over the last few years, Amnesty International has also documented war crimes and other serious human rights violations committed by the Myanmar military against various other ethnic minorities in Rakhine, Chin, Kachin and northern Shan States.
Amnesty International continues to call on all states, including ASEAN Member States, to exercise universal and other forms of jurisdiction to investigate any person who may reasonably be suspected of committing crimes against humanity, war crimes or other crimes under international law in Myanmar. ASEAN should not shield perpetrators from accountability and must put an end to the years of impunity of the Myanmar military.
“There is sufficient evidence to reasonably suspect that Min Aung Hlaing is responsible for crimes under international law, including torture, and this needs highlighting at every opportunity,” said Emerlynne Gil.
“The deadly operations by the military since the 1 February coup only magnify the urgency of bringing Min Aung Hlaing and other suspected perpetrators to justice. The Indonesian authorities have an obligation to investigate him and must do so.”.....Background: In its open letter to ASEAN and member states ahead of the emergency summit, Amnesty International calls on the following:
To the ASEAN -
Unequivocally condemn all human rights violations in Myanmar and continue to call for the release of all individuals who are arbitrarily detained, and the end of the use of lethal force against children, peaceful protesters and bystanders.
Direct the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) to develop a common approach to ensure that all engagement with Myanmar takes into account and addresses human rights concerns, in accordance with the AICHR’s mandate in Section 4.11 of its Terms of Reference. This common approach shall be adopted by ASEAN and shall guide the regional body in all of its engagement in Myanmar, including in relation to the situation in Rakhine State and to repression of opposition to the military coup.
Support the work of independent international mechanisms, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar to investigate human rights violations in Myanmar.
Urge the United Nations Security Council to refer the situation in Myanmar as a whole to the International Criminal Court.
Support the call for the UN Security Council to impose a comprehensive global arms embargo against Myanmar.
Support the call for the UN Security Council to impose targeted financial sanctions against officials suspected of responsibility for crimes under international law and serious violations, including in the context of the repression of opposition to the 1 February coup.
To ASEAN member states -
#Refrain from returning any person to Myanmar under the current circumstances, regardless of their immigration status, and continue to halt all deportations and returns until human rights protections can be guaranteed. Returning any person under the current circumstances would constitute a breach of the principle of non-refoulement, which, as part of customary human rights law, prohibits the return of any person, irrespective of migration status, to a state where there are substantial grounds to believe they would face irreparable harm upon return due to serious human rights violations.
#Ensure that any future repatriations or returns of refugees are only conducted when safe, voluntary, and dignified, with explicit human rights protections in place, including the right to citizenship. States should provide an individual assessment for each person to evaluate needs for international protection.
#Exercise universal and other forms of jurisdiction to investigate Senior General Min Aung Hlaing for allegations of committing crimes against humanity, war crimes or other crimes under international law in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Amnesty International" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-04-23
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Amnesty International reports on Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Your Excellencies,
In alignment with the upcoming Special ASEAN Summit on Myanmar on 24 April 2021, we, the undersigned 744 individuals, 402 civil society organisations in Myanmar and 444 in other Southeast Asian nations and globally, call on the ASEAN, its leaders and Member States to come up with an effective and sustainable strategy jointly with the United Nations Security Council, the United Nations Human Rights Council, the International Criminal Court (ICC), and other international community actors in addressing the illegitimate and brutal coup and atrocity crimes committed by the military junta in Myanmar.
We welcome the decision to hold the Special ASEAN Summit on Myanmar, based on the proposal made by President Joko Widodo of the Republic of Indonesia to discuss the worsening situation in Myanmar following the violent crackdown against peaceful protesters and the terror campaign against civilians launched by the junta. The decision hopefully constitutes a precedent and reflects the commitment of ASEAN Member States leaders to address Myanmar’s appalling situation using its highest-level policy-making body.
However, in view of ASEAN Member States’ differing positions on the coup in Myanmar, we remain extremely concerned that the ASEAN Summit’s response might be to consider the crisis as solely within Myanmar’s domestic affairs and therefore deciding to refrain from any meaningful action in line with the “ASEAN Way” of non-interference and overzealous respect for ‘state sovereignty’.
The differing positions of ASEAN Member States have made it difficult for ASEAN to reach a consensus and resulted in equivocations and delayed responses from ASEAN, while the military junta continued its deliberate, murderous attacks on Myanmar’s people, including various violence against women and girls, much to our sorrow and anger. As evidenced from the outputs produced by the Informal ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting (IAFMM), ASEAN responses fall well short of meeting the will of the people of Myanmar. The chair’s statement of the IAFMM meeting neither specifically publicly called out the junta’s brutality nor called for stronger cooperation with the UN Security Council and Human Rights Council. Further, it also fails to mention ASEAN’s commitment to supporting targeted economic sanctions against military personnel and business entities and global arms embargo and referral of the Myanmar situation to the ICC.
With the different interests and political will of ASEAN Member States at the moment, we are concerned to what extent the Special ASEAN Summit can create an immediate and meaningful intervention to resolve the situation of Myanmar. ASEAN’s collective and meaningful action to uphold democracy is warranted at this time. Any decision by the ASEAN leaders to treat the military junta as the legitimate representative of Myanmar in the Summit will serve to legitimize the military junta’s crimes and will thus damage not only the relationship of ASEAN with the peoples of Myanmar but the people’s movement for democracy and human rights in the region as a whole.
Further, the ASEAN and its Member States must recognise the legitimacy of the National Unity Government (NUG), the legitimate and democratically-elected government of Myanmar, given that it represents 76% of elected Members of the Union Parliament, ethnic leaders, the civil disobedience movement, and general strike committees endorsed by the people of Myanmar. Therefore, Myanmar must be represented by the NUG; not by the illegal junta who is trying to take full control of the country through its unprecedented brutality.
As we send this letter to the ASEAN Leaders, the violence and killings by the Myanmar military against protesters and supporters continue with no sign of abating. The junta have so far arbitrarily killed 739 and arrested 3,331 people, including women, elderly people and children.[1] In Karen and Kachin ethnic areas, the junta has been bombing villages, displacing more than 30,000 villagers.[2] In these bombing attacks, civilians including children lost their lives as well as faced difficulties not only about their safety, but also for health, shelter and food. Among those fleeing were women, children, elderly and pregnant women who are due to give birth. There was also a case of a woman who gave birth to her child while she was fleeing. Given the gravity of the situation, the increasing number of victims, and the impact of the crisis on the region’s security and political stability, we strongly urge ASEAN to take firm and effective actions to address the Myanmar coup through the Special ASEAN Summit.
We urge all ASEAN leaders to listen to, strongly consider, and to heed the aspirations and will of the peoples of Myanmar. The voices of Myanmar people who have risked their lives in defense of democracy and justice must be the anchor, the conscience, behind any modality and outcome of the Special ASEAN Summit on Myanmar.....၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဧပြီလ ၂၄ ရက်နေ့တွင် ကျင်းပပြုလုပ်မည့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံဆိုင်ရာ အာဆီယံအထူး ထိပ်သီးအစည်းအဝေးနှင့်အညီ အာဆီယံခေါင်းဆောင်များနှင့် အဖွဲ့ဝင်နိုင်ငံများကို မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတွင် ဖြစ်နေသည့် တရားမဝင် ရက်စက်သော အာဏာသိမ်းမှုနှင့် စစ်အုပ်စုက ကျူးလွန်သော ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်သည့် ရာဇဝတ်မှုများကို ကိုင်တွယ်ဖြေရှင်းရာတွင် ကုသသမဂ္ဂ လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီ၊ ကုလသမဂ္ဂ လူ့အခွင့်အရေး ကောင်စီ၊ နိုင်ငံတကာ ရာဇဝတ်တရားရုံး (ICC) နှင့် အခြားသက်ဆိုင်ရာ နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုင်းအဝိုင်းများနှင့်အတူ ထိရောက်ခိုင်မာသော မဟာဗျူဟာတစ်ခုကို ပူးတွဲလုပ်ဆောင်ရန် အောက်တွင် လက်မှတ်ရေးထိုးထားသော တစ်သီးပုဂ္ဂလ ၇၄၄ ဦး၊ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံမှ အရပ်ဘက်လူထုအဖွဲ့အစည်း ၄၀၂ ဖွဲ့နှင့် အခြား အရှေ့တောင်အာရှနိုင်ငံများမှ အရပ်ဘက်လူထုအဖွဲ့အစည်း ၄၄၄ ဖွဲ့တို့က တောင်းဆိုလိုက်သည်။
အင်ဒိုနီးရှားနိုင်ငံ သမ္မတ ဂျိုကို ဝီဒိုဒို (Joko Widodo) ၏ အဆိုပြုချက်အပေါ် အခြေခံပြီး မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအတွင်း ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာ ဆန္ဒပြသူများအပေါ် စစ်အုပ်စုမှ လုပ်ဆောင်သော အကြမ်းဖက် ဖြိုခွဲမှုများနှင့် အရပ်သားများအပေါ် ကြောက်မက်ဖွယ် တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများဖြစ်ပွားခဲ့သည့်နောက်ပိုင်း ပိုမိုဆိုးရွားလာနေသော အခြေအနေများကို ဆွေးနွေးရန်အတွက် အာဆီယံအထူးထိပ်သီးအစည်းအဝေးကို ကျင်းပပြုလုပ်ရန် ဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်ကို မိမိတို့မှ ထောက်ခံကြိုဆိုသည်။ ယင်းဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်သည် အာဆီယံအဖွဲ့ဝင်နိုင်ငံ ခေါင်းဆောင်များမှ ၎င်းတို့၏ အမြင့်ဆုံးအဆင့် မူဝါဒရေးဆွဲချမှတ်သည့်အဖွဲ့ကို အသုံးပြုပြီး မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတွင် ဖြစ်ပေါ်နေသော ဆိုးရွားလှသည့် အခြေအနေများကို ကိုင်တွယ်ဖြေရှင်းရန် ကတိကဝတ်ပြုမှုကို ထင်ဟပ်သည့်အပြင် လိုက်နာရမည့်ထုံးတမ်းစဉ်လာဖြစ်လာလိမ့်မည်ဟု မျှော်လင့်ပါသည်။
သို့ရာတွင် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ အာဏာသိမ်းမှုအပေါ် အာဆီယံအဖွဲ့ဝင်နိုင်ငံများ၏ မတူကွဲပြားနေသော ရပ်တည်ချက်များကို ကြည့်ခြင်းအားဖြင့် အာဆီယံထိပ်သီးအစည်းအဝေးမှ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ အကြပ်အတည်းကို ပြည်တွင်းရေးသာဖြစ်ပြီး “အာဆီယံနည်း” အရ ဝင်ရောက်စွက်ဖက်မှု မပြုခြင်းနှင့် နိုင်ငံ၏ အချုပ်အခြာအာဏာအပေါ် အလွန်အကျွံ လေးစားမှုတို့ကြောင့် အဓိပ္ပါယ်ပြည့်၀သော အရေးယူ ဆောင်ရွက်မှု လုပ်ဆောင်ခြင်းမှ ရှောင်ကြဥ်သွားမည်ကို မိမိတို့မှ စိုးရိမ်မိပါသည်။
စစ်အုပ်စုမှ မြန်မာပြည်သူများအပေါ် တမင်ရည်ရွယ်သော သတ်ဖြတ်တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများ ဆက်လက် လုပ်ဆောင်နေချိန်တွင် အာဆီယံအဖွဲ့ဝင်နိုင်ငံများအကြား မတူကွဲပြားသော ရပ်တည်ချက်များက အာဆီယံအတွက် ဘုံသဘောတူညီချက် ရရှိရန် အခက်အခဲဖြစ်စေပြီး မရေရာမှုများကို ထွက်ပေါ်စေခြင်းနှင့် အာဆီယံ၏ တုံ့ပြန်မှုများ နှောင့်နှေးကြန့်ကြာနေမှုသည် မိမိတို့အား ဝမ်းနည်း အမြတ်ဒေါသ ဖြစ်စေပါသည်။ အာဆီယံနိုင်ငံခြားရေးဝန်ကြီးများ၏ အလွတ်သဘော အစည်းအဝေး (IAFMM) မှ ထွက်ပေါ်လာသော ရလဒ်များက ဖော်ပြနေသည်မှာ အာဆီယံ၏ တုံ့ပြန်မှုသည် မြန်မာပြည်သူများ၏ ဆန္ဒနှင့် ကိုက်ညီမှု မရှိပေ။ IAFMM အစည်းအဝေး ဥက္ကဌ၏ ကြေညာချက်သည် စစ်အုပ်စု၏ ရက်စက်ယုတ်မာမှုများကို တိကျစွာ လူသိရှင်ကြား ဝေဖန်ရှုတ်ချခြင်း မရှိသကဲ့သို့ ကုလသမဂ္ဂ လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီနှင့် ကုလသမဂ္ဂ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးကောင်စီများနှင့် ပိုမိုအားကောင်းသော ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်ရေးအတွက် တောင်းဆို ခဲ့ခြင်းလည်း မရှိပေ။ ထို့အပြင် အာဆီယံသည် စစ်အုပ်စု ခေါင်းဆောင်များနှင့် စီးပွားရေးလုပ်ငန်းများအပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထား စီးပွားရေးအရေးယူပိတ်ဆို့မှုများ၊ ကမ္ဘာတစ်ဝှမ်း လက်နက်ခဲယမ်း ပိတ်ဆို့မှု နှင့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အခြေအနေကို နိုင်ငံတကာရာဇဝတ်တရားရုံး (ICC) သို့ လွှဲပြောင်းရေး တောင်းဆိုချက်များအပေါ် ထောက်ခံရေး ၎င်း၏ ကတိကဝတ်ကို ဖော်ပြရန်လည်း ပျက်ကွက်ခဲ့သည်။
လက်ရှိအချိန်တွင် အာဆီယံအဖွဲ့ဝင်နိုင်ငံများ၏ မတူညီသော အကျိုးစီးပွားနှင့် နိုင်ငံရေးစိတ်ဆန္ဒများ ရှိနေခြင်းကြောင့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ အခြေအနေကို ဖြေရှင်းရန် အာဆီယံအထူးထိပ်သီးအစည်းအဝေးမှ လျင်မြန်ပြီး အဓိပ္ပာယ်ပြည့်ဝသော ကြားဝင်ဖြေရှင်းမှုကို မည်သည့်အတိုင်းအတာအထိ ဖော်ဆောင်နိုင်မည် ဆိုသည့်အပေါ် မိမိတို့မှ စိုးရိမ်ပူပန်သည်။ ယခုအချိန်တွင် ဒီမိုကရေစီ ထိန်းသိမ်းရေးအတွက် အာဆီယံ၏ အဓိပ္ပါယ်ပြည့်ဝသော စုပေါင်းအရေးယူဆောင်ရွက်မှုကို လိုအပ်သည်။ လာမည့် ထိပ်သီးအစည်းအဝေးတွင် အာဆီယံ ခေါင်းဆောင်များမှ စစ်အုပ်စုအား မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ တရားဝင်သော ကိုယ်စားလှယ်အဖြစ် သတ်မှတ်ဆက်ဆံရန် ဆုံးဖြတ်ပါက စစ်အုပ်စု၏ ရာဇဝတ်မှုများကို တရားဝင်စေမည်ဖြစ်သဖြင့် အာဆီယံနှင့် မြန်မာပြည်သူတို့၏ ဆက်ဆံရေးကိုသာမက ဒေသတွင်းတစ်ခုလုံး၏ ဒီမိုကရေစီနှင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးလှုပ်ရှားမှု ကိုလည်း ပျက်စီးစေလိမ့်မည်။
ထို့အပြင် အာဆီယံနှင့် ၎င်း၏ အဖွဲ့ဝင်နိုင်ငံများအနေဖြင့် ရွေးကောက်တင်မြှောက်ခံထားရသည့် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ် ၇၆%၊ တိုင်းရင်းသား ခေါင်းဆောင်များ၊ လူထုအာဏာဖီဆန်ရေး လှုပ်ရှားမှုနှင့် အထွေထွေသပိတ်ကော်မတီများဖြင့် ပါဝင်ဖွဲ့စည်းထားသော မြန်မာပြည်သူများ ထောက်ခံ ထားသည့် တရားဝင် ဒီမိုကရေစီနည်းကျ ရွေးကောက်တင်မြှောက်ခံ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ အစိုးရဖြစ်သည့် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၏ တရားဝင်မှုကို အသိအမှတ်ပြုရမည်။ ထို့ကြောင့် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေး အစိုးရကသာ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံကို ကိုယ်စားပြုရမည်ဖြစ်ပြီး ဆိုးရွားလှသည့်ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်မှုများမှတစ်ဆင့် နိုင်ငံကို အပြည့်အဝ ထိန်းချုပ်နိုင်ရန် ကြိုးစားနေသည့် တရားမဝင် စစ်အုပ်စုက မဖြစ်ရပေ။
ဤစာကို အာဆီယံခေါင်းဆောင်များထံ ပေးပို့သည့်အချိန်တွင်ပင် ဆန္ဒပြသူများအပေါ် လုပ်ဆောင်နေသော စစ်အုပ်စု၏ အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများနှင့် သတ်ဖြတ်မှုများသည် လျော့နည်းလာမည့်လက္ခဏာ မရှိဘဲ ဆက်လက်ဖြစ်ပွားနေသည်။ လက်ရှိအချိန်ထိတွင် စစ်အုပ်စုမှ လူဦးရေ ၃,၂၂၉ ဦး မတရားဖမ်းဆီး ထိန်းသိမ်းထားပြီး လူပေါင်း ၇၃၇ ဦးကို သတ်ဖြတ်ခဲ့ကာ ထိုအထဲတွင် အမျိုးသမီး၊ သက်ကြီးရွယ်အိုများနှင့် ကလေးများ ပါဝင်သည်။[1] ကရင်နှင့် ကချင် တိုင်းရင်းသား နယ်မြေများတွင် စစ်အုပ်စုက ကျေးရွာများအား ဗုံးကြဲတိုက်ခိုက်ခြင်းကြောင့် အရပ်သားပေါင်း ၃၀,၀၀၀ ကျော် ထွက်ပြေးတိမ်းရှောင်နေကြရသည်။[2] ထိုဗုံးကြဲ တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများတွင် ကလေးငယ်များအပါအဝင် အရပ်သားများ အသက်ဆုံးရှုံးရမှုများအပြင် ၎င်းတို့၏ လုံခြုံမှုအတွက်သာမက ကျန်းမာရေး၊ နေထိုင်ရေးနှင့် အစားအသောက်တို့အတွက်ပါ အခက်အခဲများ ကြုံတွေ့ရသည်။ ထိုထွက်ပြေးရသူများထဲတွင် အမျိုးသမီးများ၊ ကလေးငယ်များ၊ သက်ကြီးရွယ်အိုများနှင့် မွေးဖွားခါနီး ကိုယ်ဝန်ဆောင်အမျိုးသမီးတို့ ပါဝင်သည်။ ထိုအထဲတွင် ထွက်ပြေးတိမ်းရှောင်ရင်း မီးဖွားခဲ့ရသော အမျိုးသမီးတစ်ဦး၏ ဖြစ်ရပ်လည်း ရှိခဲ့သည်။ အခြေအနေ၏ ဆိုးရွားမှု၊ ကျူးလွန်ချိုးဖောက် ခံနေရသူ အရေအတွက် များပြားလာမှုနှင့် ဒေသတွင်း လုံခြုံရေးနှင့် နိုင်ငံရေးတည်ငြိမ်မှုတို့အပေါ် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အကြပ်အတည်း၏ သက်ရောက်မှုကြောင့် အာဆီယံထိပ်သီး အစည်းအဝေးမှတစ်ဆင့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းမှုကို ဖြေရှင်းရန်အတွက် အာဆီယံအနေဖြင့် ခိုင်မာထိရောက်သော အရေးယူဆောင်ရွက် မှုများ လုပ်ဆောင်ရန် မိမိတို့မှ တိုက်တွန်း တောင်းဆိုသည်။
အာဆီယံ ခေါင်းဆောင်များမှ မြန်မာပြည်သူများ၏ ရည်မှန်းချက်များနှင့် စိတ်ဆန္ဒကို နားထောင်ပြီး အလေးအနက်ထား ထည့်သွင်းစဥ်းစားလုပ်ဆောင်ရန် မိမိတို့မှ တိုက်တွန်းတောင်းဆိုသည်။ ဒီမိုကရေစီနှင့် တရားမျှတမှု ကာကွယ်ရာတွင် ၎င်းတို့၏ အသက်များကို စတေးထားသော မြန်မာပြည်သူများ၏ အသံများသည် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံဆိုင်ရာ အာဆီယံအထူးထိပ်သီးအစည်းအဝေး၏ လုပ်ဆောင်မှုပုံစံနှင့် ရလဒ်များ၏ အခြေခံကျောရိုး ဖြစ်ရမည်။..."
Source/publisher:
744 individuals, 402 civil society organisations in Myanmar, 444 in other Southeast Asian nations and globally via "Progressive Voice"
Date of publication:
2021-04-23
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, International Relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, International Criminal Court, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG)
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"Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi said on Thursday that China hoped the upcoming ASEAN summit on member Myanmar would pave the way for a “soft landing”.
The in-person summit in Jakarta on Saturday is the first concerted international effort to ease the crisis in Myanmar, where security forces have killed hundreds of pro-democracy protesters since a Feb. 1 coup.
The meeting is also a test for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which traditionally refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of a member state, and operates by consensus.
"The Chinese side expects the meeting to lead to a good start towards helping realise a 'soft landing' for the Myanmar situation," said Wang, China's State Councillor and Foreign Minister.
He was speaking with Thailand and Brunei's foreign ministers, the current and incoming ASEAN chairs, respectively.
China is not a member of ASEAN, but is included in ASEAN Plus Three, along with Japan and South Korea. It was not immediately clear whether China will be attending Saturday's meeting in Jakarta.
"Inappropriate intervention" from outside the region should be avoided, a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry cited Wang as saying.
"Practice has proved that blindly exerting strong pressure by foreign forces will not help resolve a country's internal problems, but will bring turbulence or even deterioration to the situation, which will affect and destabilise the region," Wang said.
The United States has been imposing punitive sanctions on Myanmar after the country’s military coup. Washington has said it would take further action.
"China calls on the international community to take an objective and fair attitude and do more to help ease the tension in Myanmar, rather than the opposite," Wang said.
"China will maintain close communication with ASEAN, and continue to handle any work related to Myanmar in its own way."..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-04-23
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, China-Burma relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Topic:
Business, Indonesia, Global trade, Min Aung Hlaing, Asia, Myanmar, Jakarta, Aung San Suu Kyi, Summits, Bangkok, Asia Pacific, World News, Southeast Asia
Topic:
Business, Indonesia, Global trade, Min Aung Hlaing, Asia, Myanmar, Jakarta, Aung San Suu Kyi, Summits, Bangkok, Asia Pacific, World News, Southeast Asia
Description:
"When the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations holds a special summit Saturday to discuss Myanmar, the regional body will be under as much scrutiny as the general who led the February coup ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Opponents of the junta are furious that ASEAN is welcoming its chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, to its meeting in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, arguing that because he seized power by force, he is not Myanmar’s legitimate leader. Also weighing heavily against him is the lethal violence perpetrated by the security forces he commands, responsible for killing hundreds of largely peaceful protesters and bystanders.
“Min Aung Hlaing, who faces international sanctions for his role in military atrocities and the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, should not be welcomed at an intergovernmental gathering to address a crisis he created,” said Brad Adams, Asia director for New York-based Human Rights Watch.
“ASEAN members should instead take this opportunity to impose targeted, economic sanctions on junta leaders and on businesses that fund the junta, and press the junta to release political detainees, end abuses, and restore the country’s democratically elected government.”
The junta’s foes have promoted the idea that the opposition’s parallel National Unity Government, recently established by the elected lawmakers the army barred from being seated, should represent Myanmar, or at least have some role in the Jakarta meeting. It has not been invited.
“It’s unacceptable that they invite this murderer-in-chief, Min Aung Hlaing, who has just killed more than 730 people in Myanmar, and I think it is very unfortunate that they, again and again, talk to the military generals and not to the civilian government of Myanmar, which is the NUG,” says the parallel government’s Minister of International Cooperation, Dr. Sasa, who uses one name.
Evan Laksmana, a researcher for Indonesia’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank with close government ties, told The Associated Press there is a very practical reason for engaging Min Aung Hlaing face to face.
ASEAN recognizes “the reality is that one party is doing the violence, which is the military, and therefore that’s why the military is being called to the meeting. So this is not in any way conferring legitimacy to the military regime,” he said.
By talking to the general, ASEAN hopes to initiate a longer-term process, starting with ending the violence, that will “hopefully help facilitate dialogue among all the stakeholders in Myanmar, not just (with) the military regime.”
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said at a news conference Friday that her country hopes the ASEAN leaders will reach an agreement that is good for the people of Myanmar.
But skeptics feel ASEAN faces basic problems in seeking to resolve Myanmar’s crisis. They point to the divergent interests of the group’s members, its longstanding conventions of seeking consensus and avoiding interference in each other’s affairs, and the historic obstinacy of Myanmar’s generals.
One faction in the group, comprising Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, believes the instability engendered by the coup threatens the entire region as well as ASEAN’s credibility as a group powerful enough to act independently of big power influence.
They also point out that the ASEAN Charter — adopted in 2007, 40 years after the group’s founding — includes democracy, human rights, good governance and rule of law as guiding principles.
“Now is a grave time for ASEAN’s much-touted centrality, the idea that ASEAN is a central regional platform for regional dialogue, for promoting peace and stability in the region,” said Prof. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University. He said that conception of ASEAN is now facing “its most severe, grave challenge” in 53 years of existence.
Member countries with more authoritarian regimes — Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam — see little benefit in paying more than lip service to such principles, and have treated Myanmar’s crisis as its own internal matter.
The Jakarta meeting is a hybrid one, with onsite attendance encouraged but virtual participation by video an option because of the coronavirus pandemic. Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte both announced they will stay home and send their foreign ministers in their stead, but they are dealing with serious COVID-19 outbreaks, obscuring any political message in their decisions.
“It is more difficult to communicate on a personal level between the leaders without the leaders being present fully, particularly with regards to the prime minister of Thailand, whom we believe to have the best relationship with the current senior general from Myanmar,” observed Indonesia’s Laksmana.
He believes ASEAN has a unique opportunity to engage productively with Myanmar’s ruling junta “because right now there is no other option on the table.”
“We haven’t seen any progress from the U.N. Security Council, for example. There is no collective effort by other countries. This is it. This is the first potential breakthrough for the current crisis,” he told The Associated Press.
U.N. specialized agencies and experts have been active in criticizing the coup and the junta’s crackdown. U.N. Special Envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener will not take part in ASEAN’s deliberations, but intends to take part in sideline consultations. The junta has rejected her repeated requests to visit Myanmar.
The Security Council could effectively coordinate actions such as arms embargoes to pressure the junta, but Russia and China, major weapons suppliers to the junta, would veto such moves.
Western nations have already enacted targeted sanctions against members of the junta and businesses giving them financial support, but Myanmar’s past military governments have successfully stood up to such pressures, and would be expected to do so again, especially with support from Beijing.
ASEAN prefers quiet diplomacy to intimidation, seeking incremental gains. Even getting the two Myanmar sides to talk to each other could take some time, acknowledges Laksmana.
“I think the gravity of the situation on the ground is as such now that there is no space or even willingness for dialogue until we end the violence,” he said.
“So I think the first steps would be to what extent can ASEAN facilitate the observance of a humanitarian pause first and then the delivery of the humanitarian aid,” he said. Only after that might a forum be possible where all the stakeholders could talk.
A Southeast Asian diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said another opening move is under consideration. This would involve having ASEAN’s current chairman, Brunei Prime Minister Hassanal Bolkiah, travel to Myanmar for meetings with the military leadership and Suu Kyi’s camp to encourage dialogue. He would go there with ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi — also from Brunei — if the junta gives them the nod.
ASEAN-style diplomacy with Myanmar has borne fruit in the past. The military regime in charge in 2008 was incapable of mounting sufficient rescue and recovery efforts in the wake of devastating Cyclone Nargis, but refused to open up the country to an international aid effort. ASEAN took the initiative in offering to open a channel for foreign assistance, and the much-needed aid started flowing..."
Source/publisher:
"Associated Press" (New York)
Date of publication:
2021-04-23
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Burma's economic relations with ASEAN, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG)
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Sub-title:
Malaysian premier to attend meeting of ASEAN leaders on April 24, foreign minister confirms
Description:
"Malaysia on Tuesday reiterated its call for an end to violence in Myanmar and the immediate release of all people detained by the military junta since its February power grab.
“Provide space for peaceful assembly and freedom of speech. Return to the negotiating table to resolve this political crisis and avoid escalation of tensions,” Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said in a statement.
His remarks came ahead of a meeting of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta on Saturday.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will attend the special ASEAN meeting as he has received a special invitation from the bloc’s current chair, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, according to the foreign minister.
Hishammuddin urged the military junta to open access for humanitarian aid to reach the people of Myanmar, while also calling for efforts for the peaceful, voluntary, and dignified repatriation of the persecuted Rohingya community.
“We hope that during the upcoming discussions in Jakarta, Myanmar will agree to receive representatives from the ASEAN chair Brunei or from the ASEAN secretariat to help the country return to normalcy,” he added.
Brunei confirmed on Wednesday that the meeting of ASEAN leaders will take place in Jakarta on Saturday and will be chaired by Sultan Bolkiah.
At least 738 people have been killed so far as Myanmar’s military has used brutal methods to quell anti-coup protests raging across the country, according to the latest figures by a rights group.
Figures provided by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners show over 3,260 people have been detained, 75 of them convicted, and arrest warrants issued for at least 970 others since the Myanmar army – officially known as the Tatmadaw – seized power on Feb. 1, ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi..."
Source/publisher:
"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of publication:
2021-04-21
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Malaysia-Burma relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"Open Letter from Dr. Sasa to ASEAN National Unity Government of Myanmar Union Minister for International Cooperation and NUG Spokesperson 22nd April 2021......I bring greetings to you as the Union Minister of International Cooperation and Spokesperson of Myanmar’s new National Unity Government (NUG). Formed by democratically elected leaders of Myanmar, this new government is accountable to, and reflects the diversity of, our great people.
We greatly appreciate the Association of Southeast Asian Nation’s (ASEAN) willingness to help Myanmar address the crisis that has gripped our nation, and indeed our region, following the illegal coup d’etat on 1 February. We are aware that ASEAN will be holding an
emergency Summit on Myanmar on 24 April. We believe that the people of Myanmar should be included in meetings about Myanmar and its future. We are therefore fully prepared, as the legitimate representatives of the people of Myanmar, to participate in this Summit. We stand ready to engage with our ASEAN neighbors
toward ending this crisis, restore democracy and stability in Myanmar.
If ASEAN believes that engagement with the military coup leaders- junta is necessary, we believe that it should only occur if the military generals- junta meets the following conditions and demonstrates that it is adhering to them: 1. Stop murdering civilians and end all kind of violence against the people of Myanmar. The military junta led SAC has killed over 740 Myanmar civilians since the coup and the number of its victims increase every day......2. Stop systematically attacking neighborhoods and randomly discharging weapons into civilians’ homes that have claimed the lives of many civilians, including most vulnerable groups, people with disability, children and women.....3. Stop bombing and shelling Kachin, Karen villages and other part of the country, which has caused significant casualties and has led to tens of thousands of civilians being displaced.....4. Stop preventing those who need medical care from receiving it, including agreeing to
immediately: (i ) Stop occupying medical facilities, Schools, colleges building across the Nation (ii) Stop arresting and attacking medical personnel (iii) Stop preventing emergency medical personnel from reaching victims (iv) Stop arresting, attacking, torturing and harassing CDM members and their families who are exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression. (v) Stop arresting and attacking, torturing and harassing democratically elected leaders, their family’s members and love ones..... 5. Unconditionally release the over 3,300 political prisoners detained since the coup and stop arbitrarily detaining protesters and others who are exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression.....6. Stop all military actions against the innocent people of Myanmar and return the power to National Unity Government formed by democratically elected leaders by the people and for the people of Myanmar. The military junta continues to inflict horrific damage on our communities and people. We need ASEAN’s help in meeting the urgent humanitarian crisis that this has caused. Please provide support to the people who have been forced to flea their homes throughout our country because of the SAC-military junta’s attacks. World Food Programs (WFP) analysis shows millions more people face hunger in Myanmar the coming months as the crisis in Myanmar get deeper and deeper day by day. Please also provide support to those who seek refuge in other countries and send humanitarian assistance to help them. The National Unity
Government can help facilitate the flow of humanitarian support to the people of Myanmar. We stand ready to help you help our people in need. We also need ASEAN’s help in bringing the pressure to bear that will end the military junta’s assaults and end its attempted illegal coup. Help us cut off the resources that they need to continue their attacks on our people. This includes stopping business operations that funnel money into their illegal coffers, cutting the flow of weapons to their arsenal, and helping us as we seek to hold them accountable for their crimes through international mechanisms. We humbly yet urgently request that ASEAN does everything in its power to help the people of Myanmar in this, our greatest hour of need. We look forward to returning to ASEAN a legitimate government in good standing so that, together, we can make ASEAN the peaceful and prosperous region that all of our people deserve. Sincerely, Dr. Sasa..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-04-22
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-22
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"Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte will not attend a summit of leaders of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries in Jakarta this weekend, his spokesman said on Thursday.
Duterte will be represented by the country's foreign ministry and will not join because of the face-to-face requirements of the meeting, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a regular news conference. He did not elaborate on the issues..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-04-22
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
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Sub-title:
Southeast Asian Leaders Should Press for Return to Democratic Rule
Description:
"The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should immediately withdraw its invitation to Myanmar’s junta leader, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, to attend its upcoming summit, Human Rights Watch said today. ASEAN has scheduled an emergency meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 24, 2021, to discuss the crisis in Myanmar.
ASEAN’s inclusion of Min Aung Hlaing lends unwarranted legitimacy to the junta’s State Administrative Council over Myanmar’s democratically elected government, which the military overthrew in a coup on February 1. Before and since the coup, the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union have imposed financial and travel sanctions on Min Aung Hlaing for his involvement in grave human rights violations as military commander-in-chief.
“Min Aung Hlaing, who faces international sanctions for his role in military atrocities and the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, should not be welcomed at an intergovernmental gathering to address a crisis he created,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “ASEAN members should instead take this opportunity to impose targeted, economic sanctions on junta leaders and on businesses that fund the junta, and press the junta to release political detainees, end abuses, and restore the country’s democratically elected government.”
On November 8, 2020, Myanmar’s voters overwhelmingly elected members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), headed by Aung San Suu Kyi, to the national parliament. The NLD secured 83 percent of the contested seats. Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, claimed that the election was marred by massive fraud but has produced no credible evidence to substantiate that charge. Both domestic and international election monitoring organizations found the elections credible and rejected the Tatmadaw’s unsubstantiated claims.
Myanmar’s generals refused to accept the massive electoral defeat of the military-linked Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and acted to deprive Myanmar’s people of their right to choose their government, a right enshrined in international law. Early on February 1, the day that the new parliament was to sit for the first time, the military arrested and detained President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, along with scores of other NLD ministers, members of parliament, and regional administrators.
The state security forces have arbitrarily arrested numerous local NLD officials, at least two of whom have been tortured to death in detention. The authorities have also arrested commissioners of the national Union Election Commission and many of its state and regional offices.
Malaysia and Indonesia have publicly expressed concern about the coup, and Singapore and the Philippines have urged the Myanmar security forces to exercise restraint. However, ASEAN as a group has done little more than call on “all parties” to refrain from violence and to seek a peaceful solution through “constructive dialogue.”
This call ignores the reality that the violence has overwhelmingly been committed by state security forces against peaceful protesters, and the State Administrative Council has declared unlawful two bodies that would be likely parties to any dialogue. On March 21, the SAC declared the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, a group representing elected lawmakers, an “unlawful association.” On April 20, the SAC issued the same declaration for the recently formed National Unity Government, established by opponents to the coup.
Ongoing nationwide protests organized by the national Civil Disobedience Movement have demonstrated widespread opposition to rule by the military, which has governed the country for most of the past 60 years. The junta’s response to the largely peaceful protests has been increasingly brutal. Since the coup, security forces have killed over 700 people, including at least 45 children as young as five, and detained an estimated 3,200 activists, journalists, civil servants, and politicians. Hundreds have been forcibly disappeared, which may amount to crimes against humanity.
Over the past weeks, the military has demonstrated the callous disregard for human life that has driven its strategy for decades. In video footage from cities and towns across the country, soldiers can be seen shooting down children, brutally beating medical aid workers, and firing shotguns into crowds of peacefully protesting doctors. In the city of Bago on April 9, military and police used grenades against barricades erected by protesters, killing scores of people.
The State Administrative Council has also ordered the shutdown of mobile data and public Wi-Fi connections, resulting in the shutdown of much of the country’s internet, and placed areas of the country under martial law. In these areas, protesters, other opponents of military rule, and journalists face trials in closed military courts under unfair trial procedures, with no right to appeal. Under the council order, those convicted by military courts may be sentenced to death or hard labor for unlimited periods of time. Since the declaration of martial law, military tribunals have sentenced at least 19 people to death.
“ASEAN should be playing a constructive role in resolving Myanmar’s crisis, not providing a podium to the general most responsible for creating it,” Adams said. “ASEAN should make clear that it stands with Myanmar’s democratically elected government and will demand accountability from Min Aung Hlaing and other junta leaders responsible for the deaths of hundreds protesting for democracy.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-04-21
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar
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Sub-title:
US could not unilaterally invoke 'R2P' to intervene in Myanmar's crisis but that doesn't mean the military option is off the table
Description:
"Nearly 80 days and 800 deaths after the military coup of February 1, two divergent trendlines have emerged to define the future contours of Myanmar’s crisis: brutal reassertion of control by the military junta over a political and economic wasteland; or descent into civil war pitting the junta against a nascent coalition of forces fighting for federal democracy.
Less noted and earlier in the crisis dismissed as quixotic, there is also however a third wild-card scenario involving action aimed at deflecting both of those two disastrous trajectories: foreign intervention to engage Myanmar’s generals in the only language they have ever understood or respected – military power.
Impelled by the looming prospect of state collapse and humanitarian catastrophe as an inflexible Tatmadaw ratchets up its repression, the logic of external intervention in the form of US missile strikes against military targets is assuming a compelling momentum.
As one well-placed Singapore-based analyst conceded: “We’re in such dire territory now that almost nothing is off-limits.”
In the weeks following the putsch through February and into March many, including this writer, saw reassertion of control by the junta, known as the State Administration Council (SAC), as the most probable outcome. The argument was based on an assessment of four salient facets of the Tatmadaw as a military organization: its ample resources, institutional cohesion, proven ruthlessness and unblinking sense of mission. All of these characteristics had been amply demonstrated in earlier periods of popular protest.
Where the assessment fell down was in underestimating the extraordinary courage and resilience of ordinary citizens. Led by a youthful vanguard armed with modern communications technology, hundreds of thousands who saw their future being torn away by the same military that between 1962 and 2011 had reduced their country to an economic basket case took to the streets in peaceful protest.
This sustained outpouring of anger forced the military to move from relative restraint in the first weeks after the coup to a more characteristic resort to battlefield violence involving first targeted killings using rifles and finally open massacres with machine guns, grenades and rocket launchers..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2021-04-21
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Burma's economic relations with China, Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, China-Burma-US relations, ASEAN-Burma relations, Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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Description:
"Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing will attend an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Indonesia on April 24, Thailand said on Saturday, for his first known foreign trip since he seized power on Feb. 1.
Myanmar has been in upheaval since Min Aung Hlaing ousted an elected government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi. Security forces have killed 728 people, according to an activist group, in an attempt to crush protests.
In the latest violence, security forces shot and killed two protesters in the ruby-mining town of Mogok, a resident told Reuters, while several small bombs went off in the main city of Yangon, wounding several people, media outlets reported.
Myanmar's neighbours have been trying to encourage talks between the junta and the ousted government, but the military has shown little willingness to engage.
Several of the 10 ASEAN leaders, among them Min Aung Hlaing, confirmed they would attend the meeting in Jakarta, Thai foreign ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat said.
A spokesman for the junta did not answer calls seeking comment.
Pro-democracy politicians including ousted members of parliament on Friday announced the formation of a National Unity Government (NUG) including Suu Kyi and leaders of the anti-coup protests and ethnic minorities.
The NUG has called for international recognition as the legitimate authority, and requested an invitation to the ASEAN meeting in Min Aung Hlaing's place. It could not immediately be reached for comment...NEW YEAR AMNESTY...
The junta released 23,184 prisoners from jails across the country on Saturday under a New Year amnesty, the Prisons Department said, though few if any democracy activists arrested since the coup were thought to be among them.
Saturday is the first day of Myanmar's New Year and the last day of a five-day holiday that is usually marked with visits to Buddhist temples and raucous water throwing and partying in the streets. Suu Kyi is among 3,141 people arrested in connection with the coup, according to a tally by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
"These (freed) detainees are mostly from before Feb. 1 but there are also some who were imprisoned afterwards," Prisons Department spokesman Kyaw Tun Oo said by telephone. He said he had no details of the offences for which they had been jailed.
Among those released were 137 foreigners, who would be deported, state television said. It gave no details. The AAPP said the military continued to seek 832 people in connection with the protests.
Among them are more than 200 people, including several actors, singers and internet celebrities, who have spoken out against the coup and are wanted on a charge of encouraging dissent in the armed forces, which can carry a three-year jail term.
State media announced the names of another 40 wanted people, 20 of them doctors, on Saturday..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-04-17
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG), ASEAN-Burma relations
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"The international community needs new ways of working together to respond to the violence deployed against protesters in Myanmar.
Since the military seized power on 1 February 2021, over 600 people have been killed. As of 10 April, over 2800 are in detention, have outstanding charges or are evading arrest. Communities across the country continue to protest, despite increasingly lethal violence.
The international community continues to make statements denouncing the use of violence against protestors. They encourage regional efforts to support peaceful resolution and a return to the democratic transition. But protesters don’t want a return to the previous situation — they are calling for fundamental political change.
The Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) has entrenched its position. More lethal force and violence is expected. It is time for ASEAN and the UN to collaborate on developing a joint mechanism to coordinate regional and international diplomatic efforts, and provide humanitarian assistance to respond to the deteriorating situation.
ASEAN is constrained by its consensus-based approach to decision-making and limited investment in regional institutional architecture. The divergence of opinion over the situation in Myanmar between member states is well documented. This limits ASEAN from acting collectively.
But treating ASEAN as an enforcement mechanism in the ways that some in the international community have suggested misses the point. ASEAN has evolved as a forum for dialogue at the regional level. Its successes have been in initiating and contributing to the sustainable development of its member states, while engaging extra-regional players.
The UN has several constraints working in Southeast Asia, the most prominent being that many countries in the region prefer a localised approach to peace and security. The UN has strengthened its position in the region by partnering with ASEAN in several key areas, notably in disaster management and emergency response. A greater focus on these successes is needed to develop an ASEAN–UN partnership.
A joint mechanism would build on past successes. There have been notable developments since the signing of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response in 2008, suggesting that a more coordinated approach is possible between global and regional organisations. In October 2016, the UN Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and the ASEAN Secretary-General met alongside the UN General Assembly and the annual ASEAN–UN Secretariat-to-Secretariat Dialogue. They agreed to capture and institutionalise practical, experience-based arrangements.
This notably took shape in the response to the 2018 Sulawesi Earthquake in Indonesia. The Indonesian government mandated that the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) be the platform through which international partners and the private sector coordinate their humanitarian efforts. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs worked in the AHA Emergency Operations Centre to facilitate coordination between ASEAN and the UN. The experience was commended and pointed to as a new way of working between the two entities.
There remains a lack of significant investment in regional institutions, limiting both their mandate and their capacity. The ASEAN Charter remains the lynchpin for upholding the ASEAN community and provides the foundation for action. But it lacks triggers to initiate substantive responses and relies on the convening of an ASEAN Leaders Summit to address member states that fall foul of their commitments. And the ASEAN Secretariat only has a few hundred employees — limiting its ability to implement its broad-based mandate effectively.
Forging an ASEAN–UN partnership could help coordinate diplomatic efforts and deliver humanitarian assistance to people in Myanmar. It could draw on the expertise of the 6600 ASEAN citizens currently staffing the United Nations system to create a joint mechanism anchored in the ‘ASEAN way’ that combines the trust of ASEAN with the capacity of the United Nations.
In response to the devastating impact of Cyclone Nargis in 2008, ASEAN established the ASEAN Humanitarian Taskforce. The taskforce was made up of the ASEAN member states chaired by the ASEAN Secretary-General and an advisory group made up of Myanmar’s neighbouring countries, the UN, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. It facilitated engagement between parties and provided a model for an ASEAN–UN mechanism.
A partnership between ASEAN and the United Nations will provide a more coordinated international response to the increasingly fraught situation in Myanmar. If ASEAN leadership fails, it will fall upon the wider international community and individual ASEAN members — undermining the organisation’s regional centrality.
A path that does not engage ASEAN faces numerous hurdles and diverging interests. It is time to move beyond broad commitments to region-led approaches. Actors must find innovative ways of collaborating if regional and international efforts are to support people in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of publication:
2021-04-14
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, ASEAN-Burma relations, Humanitarian assistance, international standards and principles, Humanitarian assistance - emergencies, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, International Relations
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"The United Kingdom will support Southeast Asian countries in efforts to resolve the crisis in Myanmar, Indonesia’s foreign minister said Wednesday, after talks with her visiting British counterpart.
Indonesia is among several countries leading a push for high-level talks between leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Myanmar, where nearly 600 people have been killed in a crackdown on demonstrators opposing a Feb. 1 coup.
“We discussed... how the international community, including the UK could support the ASEAN effort to help Myanmar in resolving this situation,” Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in a news briefing after talks with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
In Raab’s speech, he reinstated Britain’s commitment to upholding international maritime law, echoing comments by the United States, Australia and European Union, which are concerned about China’s military activities in the South China Sea, a vital conduit for global trade.
Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and China have competing claims in the strategic waterway, where China has been widely criticised for building defence facilities on artificial islands and deploying coastguard and hundreds of fishing boats in disputed waters.
Raab said that Britain was committed to ensuring a rules based system be upheld, “because they’re an important pillar of regional and global security”.
The two countries also signed a economic and trade and a counter-terrorism memorandums of understanding. The details of those were not immediately clear.
Myanmar’s former colonial ruler Britain has been among the most vocal critics of the military’s overthrow of Aung San Suu Kyi’s government.
It is among several Western countries that have imposed or tightened sanctions on the Myanmar generals and the military’s network of business monopolies in response to the coup.
Indonesia is seeking a way to end the crisis through ASEAN, of which Myanmar is a member, but the bloc’s policy of non-interference and making decisions by consensus have hindered its ability to act decisively..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-04-07
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Anti-coup protesters, ASEAN-Burma relations
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Description:
"More than a month on from a democracy-suspending military coup in Myanmar, many see the junta’s increasingly violent crackdown on dissent as approaching a point of no return. As the United States and others press for tougher sanctions on the junta’s leaders, Southeast Asian nations are under pressure to intervene to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.
With its credibility on the line after past failures to tackle human rights crises in the region, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is still widely seen as the best hope for a diplomatic solution amid uncharacteristic outspokenness from some of its member states who are pushing to build a regional consensus on the need for Myanmar to return to democracy.
But the grouping isn’t speaking with one voice, with some of its members describing the putsch as an internal matter, consistent with the bloc’s long-held tradition of non-interference in members’ domestic affairs. Moreover, the organization’s diplomatic efforts have been met with skepticism by those protesting across Myanmar who are staunchly opposed to any engagement that would confer legitimacy onto Naypyidaw’s generals..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2021-03-04
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Reporting (global, regional and Myanmar), Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Pro-democracy demonstators in Myanmar show no signs of backing down amid the ongoing crackdown by security forces. Police fired tear gas and warning shots to disperse protestors, who have been on the streets every day since the military siezed power over a month ago. Demonstrations are taking place around the country and strikes are planned in at least one state. Diplomatic efforts to ease the crisis stalled on Tuesday as ASEAN countries failed to make a breakthrough in talks with Myanmar's military junta..."
Source/publisher:
"DW News" (Germany)
Date of publication:
2021-03-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
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Sub-title:
In a virtual meeting, regional foreign ministers will call for Aung San Suu Kyi’s release and encourage talks between the civilian leader and the military.
Description:
"ASEAN foreign ministers are preparing to hold virtual talks with a representative of Myanmar’s military on Tuesday, as anti-coup protesters returned to the streets in the main city of Yangon defying fresh threats from Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
Singapore’s foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan, in a televised interview late on Monday, said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will tell the military it is appalled by the violence in Myanmar and call for the release of the country’s elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and for the two sides to talk. “Instability in any corner of Southeast Asia threatens and affects the rest of us,” he said, adding that the coup will cause “grievous damage to Myanmar’s society and economy”.
The military’s February 1 power grab has plunged Myanmar into chaos, drawing hundreds of thousands of people on to the streets of cities and towns across the country as doctors, teachers and other civil servants stop work in protest against the coup.
In the bloodiest crackdown yet, security forces opened fire on protesters on Sunday, killing at least 18 and wounding dozens more.
The killings triggered widespread international condemnation, including from the United Nations and a group of ASEAN legislators who said they were “alarmed at the scale of arbitrary arrests and surge in violence in Myanmar”. ASEAN, which comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, also renewed its efforts to open a channel between Myanmar’s military and civilian leaders.
Philippine foreign minister, Teodoro Locsin, indicated on Twitter that ASEAN would be firm with Myanmar and said the regional group’s policy of non-interference in a member’s internal affairs “is not a blanket approval or tacit consent for wrong to be done there”.
He also called Aung San Suu Kyi “Burmese democracy’s only hope”. ‘Illegitimate military-led regime’
But ASEAN’s effort to engage with Myanmar’s military was met with a fierce rebuke from groups in the anti-coup movement.
Sa Sa, a representative of a committee of deposed legislators, said ASEAN should have no dealings with “this illegitimate military-led regime”, while the alumni of ASEAN youth programmes in Myanmar said the bloc should be talking to the international representatives of Aung San Suu Kyi’s administration, not to the military government.
“ASEAN must understand that the coup or the re-election promised by the military junta is utterly unacceptable to the people of Myanmar,” it said it a letter to ASEAN.
Aaron Connelly, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said ASEAN member states were in a difficult position..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of publication:
2021-03-02
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
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Sub-title:
Myanmar is not alone in a region where the armed forces continue to play outsized political roles
Description:
"Myanmar’s recent reversion to outright military rule has ended a brief and tentative experiment with electoral democracy and restored the country’s status quo ante as a junta-run dictatorship.
While international condemnation grows around the putsch, Myanmar is not alone in a region where the armed forces continue to play outsized political roles.
While Southeast Asia’s militaries are deeply enmeshed in politics, their political authority could soon grow as the region teeters towards a potential conflict in the South China Sea and as internal strife simmers in various locales.
Southeast Asian states spent US$34.5 billion on defense in 2019, up 4.2% from 2018, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) think tank.
A report last year by SIPRI’s Siemon T. Wezeman found that military spending by the ten ASEAN states increased by 33% between 2009 and 2018, “significantly more than the global increases [in] military spending or the growth in most other regions and subregions.” Thailand has seen two military coups in the past 15 years, in 2006 and 2014, both against the democratically elected governments of the Shinawatra siblings.
Thailand is now ruled by the military-civilian hybrid government of Prayut Chan-ocha, the junta leader who took charge in 2014. He faces mounting street-level resistance among protesters who question his democratic legitimacy..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2021-02-27
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
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Sub-title:
Given its own history of transition from military rule, Indonesia is probably the nation best placed to lead the bloc’s diplomacy on Myanmar.
Description:
"Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi is spearheading an effort to get the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to get more involved in resolving the political situation in Myanmar.
Retno flew to Brunei yesterday and is scheduled to visit Singapore today for talks aimed at building a consensus within ASEAN on unfolding political crisis inside the country.
Her visit comes just over two weeks after the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, seized power, arresting State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and abrogating her party’s landslide victory at national elections in November. The coup has been followed by an escalating nationwide civil disobedience campaign that has brought the country’s government to a standstill.
“Many countries, including Indonesia, have raised concerns,” Retno said in a statement from Brunei. “Raising concerns is one thing, but the question is: What can Indonesia and ASEAN do to help Myanmar get out of this delicate situation?” Her tour came after Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin agreed to instruct their foreign ministers to talk to Brunei, this year’s chair of ASEAN, about setting up a special meeting to address the political crisis in Myanmar.The coup looms as an important test for ASEAN, which claims to occupy a position of diplomatic centrality in Asian diplomacy, but has often been sluggish in its response to regional crises. This is because of ASEAN’s decision-making process, which is based on the principles of consensus – meaning that any ASEAN member state can veto a course of action – and an allergy to any hint of “intervention” in member states’ internal affairs..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of publication:
2021-02-18
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"To date, ASEAN has over 200,000 coronavirus infections across all 10 member states, with more than 6,000 fatalities as a result of the deadly disease. Although other regions such as Europe and the Americas have recorded more COVID-19 cases compared to Southeast Asia – the pandemic has still managed to ravage livelihoods and local industries in the latter region.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has projected that growth in Southeast Asia will decelerate from 4.4 percent in 2019 to one percent this year before rebounding to 4.7 percent in 2021.
“The evolution of the global pandemic – and thus the outlook for the global and regional economy –is highly uncertain. Growth could turn out lower, and the recovery slower, than we are currently forecasting,” said Yasuyuki Sawada, ADB’s chief economist. For ASEAN member state Myanmar, despite the low reported cases of COVID-19 in the country which stands at 343 infections as of 23 July – the social and economic effects could be severe, noted the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
An IMF publication titled, ‘Six Charts on Myanmar's Economy in the Time of COVID-19’ states that the pandemic shock has affected the economy’s key growth engines. It explains that the kingdom has seen a sharp decline in exports, remittances, and tourist arrivals. At the same time, domestic economic activity has been constrained by strict measures to curb the virus. According to a recent report by the Myanmar Trade Promotion Organisation (MTPO), the tourism industry has been hit hardest by the pandemic, followed by the garment industry. Other sectors that have been feeling the pinch include the rubber export and manufacturing sectors.
Local media in the country reported that nearly one third of all companies in the country have temporarily shuttered due to the pandemic..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of publication:
2020-07-24
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The “Association of South-East Asian Nations” or “ASEAN” was formed from the ASEAN Declaration in Bangkok on 8th August 1967 (as a successor to the Association of South-East Asia, “ASA” in 1961), and is just four years younger than the EEC (now the EU). ASEAN is now a grouping of ten geographically, culturally and politically diverse countries, although initially consisted only of those countries which avoided any socialist experimentation: Singapore/Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia. Most of the Mekong countries joined later: Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos.
ASEAN has 651 million people and a land mass of 4.5 million sq kms (50% larger than India and one-half the size of China), and a nominal GDP of US$ 3 trillion (on a PPP basis 4x higher at $13 trillion) and US$ 4,600 nominal GDP per capita. By comparison, the EU has twenty-eight countries, 513 million people, and an almost identical land area of 4.48 million sq kms, but it has a nominal GDP that is 7X higher than ASEAN at US$ 19 trillion (or $23 trillion translating to just 2X on a PPP basis), and a US$ 37,300 nominal GDP per capita. The likelihood is that ASEAN will narrow the gap between its nominal and PPP GDP over the next few years, generating substantial gains for investors.
What is common to all ASEAN countries is the agricultural economic base (except for Singapore & Brunei) and their consequently more manageable workforces, their Chinese (mostly Fujian) diaspora business culture, and their Japanese/Taiwanese/Korean led industrial investment. The Mekong countries share a common Buddhist heritage, but are a mixture quasi-democratic, and factional 1-Party States.
The oldest cultures in ASEAN, the Mekong countries are the least developed, due to their proximity to China and its socialist sphere of influence from 1950-1980. That proximity is now a positive as China embarks on its “Belt & Road” initiative and its manufacturers rush to avoid rising labour costs and US/China trade friction, diversifying production to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. Currently the former closed countries, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, “continental ASEAN” or the old Indochina, are now leading ASEAN in growth from their lower economic bases, and after a temporary lapse in 2020, are all expected to be back to 6-7% growth rates in 2021..."
Source/publisher:
"The Asia First Newsletter''
Date of publication:
2020-07-10
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with ASEAN, Burma's economic relations with China, ASEAN-Burma relations, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The strategically vital Mekong subregion has been gaining salience in Beijing’s strategic calculations as China faces growing pushback from the US and other countries. The global pandemic appears to be consolidating a few trends in China’s ties with the Mekong nations. In this emerging scenario, it is likely that China will keep its focus on the Mekong subregion in the post-COVID-19 period.
Cooperative partnerships with some countries have been further deepening, while China’s “mask diplomacy” has raised concern among citizens who want their governments to adopt a more cautious approach and there have been new factors that have been added to existing difficult relationships often viewed through the confrontational lens.
Apart from China-ASEAN cooperation in engaging with the Mekong subregion, Beijing has been using the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC)–––a subregional cooperation mechanism jointly established by Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam–––in engaging with the subregion in the fight against the global pandemic.
In February, Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Vientiane, Laos, to participate in the fifth LMC foreign ministers’ meeting where he called for “concerted efforts” to fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.
The global pandemic provided Cambodia and China to further consolidate their cooperative partnership. During Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s visit to China in early February at a time when “anti-Chinese sentiments” were rising has been interpreted as demonstrating “solidarity” and China-Cambodia relations has described as “a model” for neighbourhood diplomacy..."
Source/publisher:
"Observer Research Foundation (ORF)" (India)
Date of publication:
2020-06-20
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, ASEAN-Burma relations, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The regional body has been notably silent on genocide in Myanmar, ducking behind the myth of non-interference.
Description:
"On 26 June, leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will meet virtually for their 36th semi-annual summit. The meeting is expected to include a focus on the re-opening of borders and economies post-pandemic, as well as discussions about the continuing tensions in the South China Sea and progress against the ASEAN 2015–2025 Community Building Blueprints.
For ASEAN, the summit comes at a critical time. Since the mid 1970s, ASEAN has progressively increased its clout as a credible regional organisation, but today this centrality is threatened by shifting regional dynamics. Major powers within and outside the region have proposed the establishment of alternative regional frameworks: Australia’s proposal for an Asia-Pacific Community, the notion of the Indo-Pacific region, and what became the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, involving some ASEAN member states but not ASEAN as a regional organisation. With ASEAN members interacting more independently with external partners and trading regimes, the importance of a Southeast Asian regional association is arguably diminished.
And now, as ASEAN leaders prepare for next week’s summit, one of its member states – Myanmar – is preparing its defence against allegations of genocide brought by the state of Gambia before the International Court of Justice. Simultaneously, the International Criminal Court is investigating allegations that Myanmar’s senior authorities forcibly deported and persecuted the Rohingya people.
In explaining the ASEAN stance on the Rohingya crisis, much has been made of the “ASEAN Way” – the principles of sovereignty, non-interference and consensus decision-making enshrined in numerous ASEAN agreements and declarations.
Running in parallel with these developments in international justice has been a tide of international condemnation and sanctions against Myanmar, related to its violence against the Rohingya ethnic minority. The UN Secretary General, the Security Council and the General Assembly have all expressed concern, and the US, Canada and the EU have imposed sanctions..."
Source/publisher:
"The Independent" (UK)
Date of publication:
2020-06-17
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), ASEAN-Burma relations, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
more
Description:
"In a survey by Visa, around 64 percent of consumers in Southeast Asia are confident of going cashless for a full day, highlighting the region’s strong drive towards digital payments. Moreover, the 2019 World Payments Report shows that the value of non-cash transactions in Asia is projected to grow from US$96.2 billion in 2017 to US$352.8 billion by 2022, a meteoric rise of over 266 percent.
Contactless payments allow people to make payments by tapping their payment cards or phones on point of sales (POS) terminals instead of swiping or inserting their cards. QR (quick response) codes are two-dimensional bar codes which can carry purchase transaction information – allowing merchants to receive payments from customers when scanned. Surveying 504 people in Myanmar across Yangon, Pathein, Mandalay and Magway in September 2018, Visa found that up to 60 percent of consumers use cashless payments to settle payments in hypermarkets and supermarkets. Nevertheless, awareness of cashless payment systems in Myanmar is still rather low compared to other ASEAN member states.
Obstacles
There are several challenges in getting Myanmar to go cashless.
Digital payment solutions rely on electricity and the internet, and the lack of reliable electricity supply in rural areas is probably the biggest obstacle in converting people from cash to digital.
Another problem in Myanmar is a lack of training around such technology.
“Even in Yangon and Mandalay, where people are familiar with technology, some employees do not know how to accept payments by phone or card and sometimes ask for cash instead because the internet is down,” Nyein Chan Soe Win, CEO and co-founder of e-commerce and ride hailing platform Get Myanmar told local media.
Although the Ministry of Transport and Communications revealed that there were over 56.8 million mobile subscribers in the country during the fiscal year 2017-2018, relatively few people have bank accounts in Myanmar.
Payment consultants Mercator Advisory Group estimates that 74 percent of Myanmar’s citizens do not have a bank account and only five percent have debit cards – making it hard to develop an e-payment system based on mobile phones..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of publication:
2020-06-06
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burmese think tanks etc. dealing with the Burmese/Myanmar economy, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Although trade with Indian neighbour is down 40 percent, Myanmar’s commercial exchanges with its ASEAN partners remain healthy, according to Thura Swiss June 5.
According to the latest reports from the Ministry of Commerce, the aggregated sea and land trade between Myanmar and the rest of the block, for the first half of the 2019-20 fiscal year, amounted to US$6.9 billion.
Myanmar still imports twice as much as it exports with its regional partners (US$2.14 billion exports value versus US$4.75 billion imports). Taken as a whole the ASEAN block is the country’s 2nd trade partner – after China. In ASEAN, Thailand stands out as the number one trading partner, followed by Singapore and Malaysia coming third..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-06
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
more
Sub-title:
Three Asean heavyweights - Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines - have offered to buy rice produced in Myanmar, U Khin Maung Lwin, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, told The Myanmar Times.
Description:
"The Philippines and Malaysia have offered to purchase 300,000 tonnes and 50,000 tonnes of rice from Myanmar, respectively, while Indonesia has yet to confirm the quantity it wants.
The Philippines is already an existing rice export market for Myanmar, having already bought 60,000 tonnes of rice this year with a further 10,000 tonnes en route. Due to COVID-19, the Asean countries are beefing up their rice reserves, which presents an opportunity for Myanmar to negotiate long term export contracts with them, U Khin Maung Lwin said.
“Currently, international rice prices are surging now so we will need to negotiate for favourable terms,” he said.
He added that Myanmar must weigh international demand for rice against its own needs.
“Demand is rising in the rice market but we also need to consider domestic food security. On the other hand, if there is too much supply inside the country, prices may plunge," he said.
The Ministry of Commerce suspended rice export licenses in April but resumed in May and has since allowed 150,000 tonnes to exported. It has so far built up an export reserve equivalent to 10 percent of total exports, and purchased 50,000 tonnes of for domestic reserves.
Myanmar expects export 2.5million tonnes of rice in fiscal 2019-20 and earned more than US$542million from the export of 1.8 million tonnes of rice up until May 15. Around 14 percent of the exports were conducted at the border while more than 85pc was shipped out. .."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-04
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"This book of proceedings is based on several papers presented at the
seminar Political Instability in Southeast Asia, organized by the
Department of Asian Studies and the Center of Asia-Pacifc Studies at
Metropolitan University Prague on April 19th, 2013. This relatively small
academic gathering was held as part of the series of workshops
organized in the framework of the RESAREAS project, ofcially entitled
the Cooperation Network for Research of Non-European Areas. This
was the third seminar of the series and had originally been entitled
Political Instability in Asia. Interestingly, all the papers which responded
to our Call for Papers dealt with the region of Southeast Asia. Our team,
based around the Department of Asian Studies at MUP, took this as
a good omen that our eforts and area of focus – i.e. a concentration on
Pacifc Asia with a strong dedication to Southeast Asian afairs in our
research and teaching activities – is heading in the right direction.
Therefore, focusing on Southeast Asia in this little edited volume makes
it both more specifcally focused and realistic. Furthermore, of course,
this region deserves much more attention than it is actually getting. And
I daresay this statement bears even more validity in Czechia as well as
within post-Communist Central Europe in general. The simple fact is that
Southeast Asia has so far been heavily understudied in the Czech Republic.
This is something of a paradox since Charles University and other notable
institutions have had a long tradition of (mainly linguistic) Oriental Studies
programs such as Indology, Sinology, as well as Japanese and Korean
Studies. Also Middle Eastern Studies there and at the Oriental Institute of
the Academy of Science of (still regarded geographically, if not always
culturally, as part of Asia) have been well established for decades. Palacký
University in Olomouc and Masaryk University in Brno also have
departments which give lectures on East Asian languages and cultures..."
Source/publisher:
European Social Fund (Evropský sociální fond)
Date of publication:
2013-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
174.47 KB (142 pages)
more
Description:
"The United States has delayed a regional ASEAN summit scheduled to take place in Las Vegas next month due to fears of the coronavirus, a senior administration official said Friday (Feb 28).
"As the international community works together to defeat the novel coronavirus, the United States, in consultation with ASEAN partners, has made the difficult decision to postpone the ASEAN leaders meeting," said the official on condition of not being named..."
Source/publisher:
Agence France-Presse (AFP) (France) via "CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of publication:
2020-02-29
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"For the second year running, the ASEAN Studies
Centre at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute conducted
The State of Southeast Asia survey from 12 November
to 1 December 2019. A total of 1,308 respondents from
the ten ASEAN member states participated in the 2020
edition of the survey, which seeks to understand the
perceptions of Southeast Asians on regional affairs and
ASEAN’s engagements with its Dialogue Partners,
especially the major powers.
The survey which was conducted online drew from a
specialised pool of respondents from five professional
categories: research, business and finance, public sector,
civil society, and the media. The purposive sampling
method was used, based on two criteria: respondents
must be Southeast Asian nationals and have adequate
knowledge of regional affairs as inferred from their
profession and job scope. The survey findings are not
meant to be representative of the extant Southeast
Asian view on regional affairs. They do, however, serve
to present a general view of the prevailing attitudes
among those in a position to inform or influence policy in ten ASEAN member states on regional political and
economic issues.
The survey has eight sections: (1) background of
respondents, (2) regional security outlook, (3) major
powers’ regional influence and leadership, (4) geo-
economics and regional integration, (5) geopolitics and
regional architecture, (6) China and US’ engagements
with the region, (7) perceptions of trust, and (8) soft
power. The survey contains 58 questions, of which 18
touch on “baseline” issues which were included in last
year’s survey. The remaining 40 questions, which are
highlighted in the report with an asterisk (*), address new
issues for the regional discourse in 2020. The findings for
the “baseline” questions for the preceding and current
years are presented side-by-side to facilitate comparative
analysis. We have also taken the liberty to rearrange the
ordering of the questions and organise them under new
headings to improve the report’s clarity and cohesion. For
the purpose of readability, the figures in this report are
rounded up or down to the nearest one decimal point..."
Source/publisher:
ASEAN Studies Centre
Date of publication:
2020-01-16
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), ASEAN-Burma relations, Burma's economic relations with ASEAN
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.19 MB (17 pages)
more
Description:
"Six ASEAN countries have been on the list of the countries hit by novel coronavirus infection issued by World Health Organization, but Myanmar is still excluded.
According to WHO figures available on February 3 morning, there are 14,557 lab-confirmed cases across the world—14,411 in China including 14 in Hong Kong, 7 in Macao and 10 in Taiwan. Of those confirmed cases, 2,110 are in serious condition. A total of 304 people died in China and one in the Philippines. The one who died in the Philippines had close contact with a confirmed patient. Apart from China, 23 countries are hit by coronavirus and ASEAN countries include Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines.
According to WHO, China remains at a very high danger level while other affected countries are at a high level.
Previously, WHO defined novel coronavirus suspects as having fever, coughing, need for hospitalization and a history of visit to Wuhan 14 days ago and health staff or those having close contact with the confirmed patients. As for February 1, a history of visit to Wuhan has been changed to a history of visit to China.
"Although infection is transmitted from human to human in China, WHO has regarded it as limited human to human transmission only. This is because infection is found in family members and health workers who have close contact with patients. This means that health workers should also stay alert to the infection," said Dr Khin Khin Gyi, deputy director of the Central Infection Disease Control Department under the Public Health Department..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-02-04
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Tuberculosis and other lung/respiratory tract diseases, Public Health, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"(This article will be updated continuously. It was originally published on January 28, 2020. It was last updated on February 1, 2020)
Due to the developing situation in China and Asia concerning the Wuhan Coronavirus, we will be operating this article as a running live update service to keep businesses involved in the ASEAN region updated with the latest relevant regional news. Note the potential for cases to rise in Thailand and Vietnam, given their popularity and ease of access by Chinese nationals over the Lunar New Year festivities is of particular concern. India also appears to be at risk..."
Source/publisher:
"ASEAN Briefing"
Date of publication:
2020-02-01
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Tuberculosis and other lung/respiratory tract diseases, Public Health, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
Economy, Markets, ASEAN +3 Macroeconomic Research Office, Tourism, E-Commerce, Myanmar
Topic:
Economy, Markets, ASEAN +3 Macroeconomic Research Office, Tourism, E-Commerce, Myanmar
Description:
"The ASEAN Post recently published an article on whether 2020 will be a good year for Myanmar’s economy. That article noted that the ASEAN +3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) had given Myanmar’s economy a positive outlook for the fiscal year of 2019 to 2020; expecting it to expand by 7.1 percent up from 6.8 percent in the previous fiscal year. However, there may be some events that could act as obstacles to this growth.
The positive outlook is largely thanks to reform momentum, improving business sentiments, growth in manufacturing, tourism related expansion and stronger fiscal spending. According to AMRO, the five key sectors with growth potential in Myanmar this year are (1) the tourism industry, (2) property, (3) insurance, (4) digital transactions and (5) the stock exchange business. However, according to reports, economists have noted that the downside is the ongoing Rakhine crisis as well as the lawsuit filed against Myanmar in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by Gambia, which could tarnish the country’s image as an investment destination. One of the five key growth sectors this could clearly impact is the tourism industry.
Myanmar has taken several measures to attract tourists. Among these measures are relaxed visa requirements. Aside from that, there have also been a slew of new flight routes coming in and out of Myanmar and neighbouring countries including India, China, Cambodia, and Thailand all throughout last year..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of publication:
2020-01-12
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with ASEAN, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, ASEAN-Burma relations, Sustainable development, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
Language:
more
Description:
"Wildlife trafficking, like drug and human trafficking, is often a trans-boundary crime. Animal parts and products, non-timber forest products, and living creatures heading to the pet trade find their way across borders every day, passing fluidly between jurisdictions and human societies.
Given legal and language barriers, it can be challenging to catch criminals, follow leads, or even keep up to date on the policies and legislation that govern wildlife. These are very real concerns for the participants in a recent cross-border cooperation workshop in which members of the Provincial Wildlife Enforcement Networks (P-WENs) from five provinces in the Golden Triangle area of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar met in Tachileik, Shan state, Myanmar. The workshop, which was organized by WWF, was attended by a range of wildlife authorities and law-enforcement officials, including representatives from the national and provincial forest departments, forest police, customs, prosecution, and police, to name a few..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2020-01-08
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar has potential investments from Hong Kong and ASEAN countries such as Singapore and Thailand in 2019-20 FY, according to the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations.
Among ASEAN countries, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia and Laos made investments in Myanmar.
A total of 50 countries invested in 1,876 businesses in 12 sectors from 1988 to November 2019 and the total investment is about US$83 billion.
In that period, the investment amount of nine ASEAN countries is over US$38 billion and it is over 46 per cent of total foreign investment.
The investment amount of ASEAN countries are as per following: over US$22 billion from Singapore, over 11 billion from Thailand, over 2 billion from Vietnam, about 2 billion from Malaysia, over US$270 million from Indonesia, about US$150 million from Philippines, over US$120 million from Brunei, over US$24 million from Cambodia and about one million from Laos..."
Source/publisher:
"Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-01-08
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with ASEAN, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"A TOTAL of 1,807 victims of human trafficking were rescued in Thailand last year, a marked increase from 622 in 2018.
According to the Bangkok Post, the highest figure was 982 victims in 2015.
Police said about 60 per cent of those rescued last year were women and most were trafficked for labour.
“Nearly three-quarters of them were Burmese migrants bound for neighbouring Malaysia.”
Lawyers and activists said the spike in victims uncovered by the authorities could put pressure on the nine government-run shelters that support survivors. They said this put a strain on the budget allocated for victims’ wellbeing and affected the ability of staff members to provide support.
Thailand has ramped up efforts to tackle trafficking in recent years, under scrutiny from the United States and following criticism of its failure to stop trafficking in its multibillion-dollar seafood industry, and the sex trade.
Those identified as trafficking victims can choose to receive help from the government. This includes staying at a shelter and being compensated through a state fund that provides living and rehabilitation expenses in addition to lost wages.
Victims are also entitled to legal aid and job opportunities while awaiting trial to give testimony or being returned home..."
Source/publisher:
"New Straits Times" (Malaysia)
Date of publication:
2020-01-08
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Trafficking: global, regional and national reports, Smuggling of people - Burma-Myanmar related, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Myanmar is the leading country in Southeast Asia in eliminating corporal punishment and child labour following the ratification of a minimum age obligation and passsage of a landmark legislation.
Description:
"In November, the parliament approved the ratification of the International Labour Organization’s Minimum Age Convention No 138. The 18-article convention seeks to abolish child labour and support the physical, mental and economic development of young people, while allowing Myanmar and other underdeveloped countries to employ children aged 12 to 14 for non-harmful light work. This follows the enactment of the Child Rights Law a few months earlier, a move which garnered widespread recognition and support among civil society organisations for the advancement of children's rights, particularly in ending violence against children. The legislation was applauded by the likes of UNICEF, Human Rights Watch and Save the Children.
Save the Children, which has operations in Myanmar, hailed the nation as a leader in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the issue of any form of punishment perpetrated against children..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-01-07
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
more
Topic:
Economy, Markets, ASEAN +3 Macroeconomic Research Office, Tourism, E-Commerce, Myanmar
Topic:
Economy, Markets, ASEAN +3 Macroeconomic Research Office, Tourism, E-Commerce, Myanmar
Description:
"It was reported recently that the ASEAN +3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) had given Myanmar’s economy a positive outlook for the fiscal year of 2019 to 2020, expecting it to expand by 7.1 percent up from 6.8 percent in the previous fiscal year. This is largely thanks to reform momentum, improving business sentiments, growth in manufacturing, tourism related expansion and stronger fiscal spending.
According to AMRO, the five key sectors with growth potential in Myanmar this year are (1) the tourism industry, (2) property, (3) insurance, (4) digital transactions and (5) the stock exchange business.
Looking at the tourism industry, several measures have been taken to attract tourists. Among these measures is the easing up on visa requirements. Beginning 1 October last year, tourists from Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Russia were given visas on arrival for US$50 each at Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw international airports. Even more recently, on 1 January, the government of Myanmar relaxed its visa regulations for five more countries. Travellers from the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Hungary and Austria will be given visas on arrival when entering the country for the next three years.
There have also been a slew of new flight routes coming in and out of Myanmar and neighbouring countries including India, China, Cambodia, and Thailand all throughout 2019..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of publication:
2020-01-08
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with ASEAN, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, Sustainable/ethical/responsible tourism (Burma/Myanmar), ASEAN-Burma relations, Burma/Myanmar's Foreign relations, general
Language:
more
Description:
"It is for the first time for ASEAN to have an Intergovernmental Human Rights Commission whose main job is to deal with all human right problems within the association. This newly formed body would not be effective unless it deals properly by collective arrangements within the region. ASEAN would face criticism as a lip service body, which fails to take a firm action to deal with the Rohingya issues. Persecution and human rights violations against the Rohingya inside Burma, especially in Arakan state, have persisted for over 20 years, with insufficient international attention. Within the study of International Relations, the problem of forced migration and displaced persons are understudied, despite they are daily features in global conflict. The problem have great significance to understand the international society’s behaviour, yet “there has been little systematic attempt...to explore what the central concepts within IR might offer to the study of forced migration” (Betts and Loescher 2011, 11). Forced migration and displaced persons are both causes and consequences of conflict and instability, hence mitigation needs involvement of both states and non-state actors. The Rohingya problem has been unique since their displacement is not caused by internal conflicts but because of denial of citizenship. Within ASEAN member countries we are witnessing some groups of people holding this status. Including the Rohingya people, almost everywhere the non-citizens facing official and non-official discrimination. Having social and practical hostilities from their surroundings. This essay, however, explores why ASEAN continues to turn a blind eye to the plight of the Rohingya even though ASEAN has inaugurated the Intergovernmental Human Rights Commission..."
Source/publisher:
Airlangga University (Indonesia) via "Academia.edu" (USA)
Date of publication:
2012-03-12
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, The rights of non-citizens, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
Format :
pdf
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"The year 2019 has been a fruitful year for China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in their concerted efforts to consolidate ties and forge a closer community with a shared future.
One year into the implementation of the landmark China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership Vision 2030, the two sides have built stronger economic and trade links, further synergized their development plans, and made major progress in managing differences. All these were achieved while the world is afflicted with rising protectionism and unilateralism that undermine globalization and development.
In fact, the China-ASEAN partnership has become one of the most dynamic partnerships that the bloc has with a dialogue partner, said Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, whose country is the rotating chair of ASEAN for 2019..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-12-15
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, China-Burma relations, Burma's economic relations with ASEAN, Burma's economic relations with China
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Description:
"Earlier this year, in June, Save the Children released its Global Childhood Report 2019. The report involved a total of 176 countries, and took a look at indicators such as children’s healthcare, education, nutrition and protection. But while Singapore took lead in terms of providing a safe and fostering environment for children, leaving other ASEAN countries far behind, countries like Lao, Cambodia, Myanmar, and the Philippines performed the worst in the bloc.
The ASEAN Post has published several articles citing this particular report. We looked at the dire state in Lao, Cambodia, and the Philippines, and also commended Singapore for being able to grab top spot for the second year in a row. Nevertheless, today it’s pertinent to also take a closer look at Myanmar.
Talking about children in Myanmar is timely as recently, the country’s Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Assembly of the Union) approved Myanmar’s ratification of an international treaty to abolish child labour in the country. The Minimum Age Convention (138) of the International Labour Organization (ILO), which includes the abolition of child labour, was approved on Tuesday..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of publication:
2019-12-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Child labour in Burma, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, ASEAN-Burma relations
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Sub-title:
A short paper on the region‘s response to the recent refugee crisis.
Description:
"The objectives of this short report are to: (a) give a comprehensive historical
background on the plight of the Rohgingya and the events of the migrant crisis;
(b) identify, explain the role and response of entities such as the governments of
ASEAN and other organizations such as the United Nations (UN) and relevant
non-governmental organizations (NGOs); (c) explain the political, economic and
social aspects, factors and developments on the issue; (d) give a conclusion and
recommendations based on the author‘s research. Studying refugees and forced
displacement flows is essential in understanding emerging trends in migration, as
well as an indicator of consequences of conflict, economic stagnation, and
environmental degradation. As of 2014, the United Nations High Commissioner
on Refugees (UNHCR) reported an accelerated growth in global forced
displacement whilst reaching unprecedented levels. There are 59.5 million
individuals globally that were forcibly displaced because of persecution, armed
conflict, generalized violence, or human rights violation1
. Crises in the Middle
East, Africa, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia have severely stretched the
global humanitarian system. In addition, the gaps can be observed on the current
global legal framework in protecting, asylum seekers, refugees and internally
displaced persons (IDPs). Out of the 59.5 million displaced, 19.5 million are
refugees, 28.2 million are IDPs, and 1.8 million are asylum-seekers. 42,500
individuals are forcibly displaced daily due to conflict and persecution..."
Source/publisher:
"Academia.edu" (USA)
Date of publication:
2015-11-28
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
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540.62 KB (12 pages)
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Sub-title:
In 2017 Myanmar established the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine State (UEHRD) to facilitate peacebuilding. Two years on, peace remains elusive.
Description:
"On October 18, 2019, Myanmar celebrated the second anniversary of the formation of the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine State (UEHRD), an institution to facilitate peacebuilding in the Myanmar state that has attracted much global attention. The event in Nay Pyi Daw was attended by representatives of the Myanmar government, military, local civil society, as well as organisations like ASEAN.
Speaking in her role as Chairperson of the UEHRD, Aung San Suu Kyi emphasised self-reliance in resolving challenges in Rakhine State. Her statement came even as Myanmar responds to international pressure, especially on the fate of the Rohingya. Suu Kyi understands well her need for ASEAN as an organisational buffer to help manage the international pressure to build peace in Rakhine State. But the space for ASEAN to manoeuvre in the situation is limited, and subject to Myanmar’s willingness to cooperate..."
Source/publisher:
"Eurasia Review"
Date of publication:
2019-12-03
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Several actions were organized across Southeast Asia from 20 to 22 September 2019 in support of the Global Climate Strike. One of the aims of the global strike was to mobilize young people and put pressure on world leaders who were scheduled to meet at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York.
The protest actions in Southeast Asia highlighted various issues such as the impact of large-scale mining, haze pollution, and continuing dependence on fossil fuels. Like in other parts of the world, the climate strikes in Southeast Asia featured the active participation and leadership of young people.
Below is an overview of protest activities across Southeast Asia:
Myanmar protesters demand the declaration of a climate emergency
More than 200 people marched from the new Bogyoke Market to Sule Pagoda, and then gathered outside Mahabandoola Park in Yangon on 21 September. They urged the Myanmar government to declare a climate emergency, impose a moratorium on projects that harm the environment, and promote environmental justice..."
Source/publisher:
"Global Voices"
Date of publication:
2019-09-25
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Climate Change - climate education, introductions, films, guides, links, bibliographies, Climate Change - governmental and inter-governmental bodies, treaties, meetings, reports, commentaries, Climate Change - networks, campaigns, guides, resources, Climate Change - Migration Global, Climate Change - Migration Burma/Myanmar, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
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Description:
" On a par with the “super drug traffickers” threat, human trafficking is giving Southeast Asian countries a big headache with the recent death of 39 Vietnamese nationals while trying to enter Britain being the latest case in point.
The Asean Post quoted the United States Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report 2019 as stating that in the case of Vietnam, traffickers typically subjected their victims to forced labour in construction, fishing, agriculture, mining, logging and manufacturing sectors.
They are primarily trafficked to Angola, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates.
Taking into account the wider Asian region, the Asia Pacific is in fact facing the biggest problem when it comes to human trafficking.
According to the 2016 Global Slavery Index by the Walk Free Foundation, it is estimated that 25 million people are trapped in modern slavery in the region, accounting for 62 per cent of the global total.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen urged Asean to cooperate with China to tackle the human trafficking issue, according to a report from The Khmer Times.
“Human trafficking, exploitation of labour, sex trafficking, child labour and organ trafficking are serious crimes. It is necessary for Asean and China to pay attention and work together to prevent them,” he said..."
Source/publisher:
"New Straits Times" (Malaysia)
Date of publication:
2019-11-30
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Trafficking: global, regional and national reports, People smuggling - international standards and mechanisms, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
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Description:
"The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) provides momentum for regional economic integration and connectivity, helping China and ASEAN forge a closer community of shared future, said Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Hor Nam Hong.
Hor made the remarks Saturday at the opening ceremony of the 16th China-ASEAN Expo themed "Building the Belt & Road, Realizing Our Vision for a Community of Shared Future."
The deputy vice prime minister envisioned that the China-ASEAN strategic partnership and the BRI will further deepen the cooperation between the two sides in the joint pursuit of shared prosperity.
Statistics show that China has signed cooperation agreements with more than 130 countries across the globe and 30 international organizations on jointly building the Belt and Road, benefiting people of the involved nations.
Highlighting regional economic cooperation, this year's China-ASEAN expo is expected to lift the practical and comprehensive cooperation between China, ASEAN and other countries participating in the BRI to new heights..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-09-23
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with ASEAN, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, Burma's economic relations with China, ASEAN-Burma relations, China-Burma relations
Language:
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Description:
"A series of key reports released over the past month have proven just how ineffective global efforts to address climate change have been.
Greenhouse gases (GHG) keep on rising, and the planned production of fossil fuels provides countries with no chance of achieving the 2015 Paris Agreement – a treaty ratified by 184 countries which aims to limit global temperature increases to below two degrees Celsius by 2100 and no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Despite ambitious goals, the voluntary nature of the Paris Agreement – along with its numerous loopholes and technicalities – means that decisive action in reducing emissions, addressing climate change and adopting renewable energy remains elusive. With Southeast Asia expected to face the brunt of the damage from climate change, a report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) yesterday that GHG in the atmosphere have reached another new record high means that the region can look forward to more rising temperatures, sea levels and disruptions to marine and land ecosystems.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) noted last year that average temperatures in Southeast Asia have risen every decade since 1960 – with Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam among the 10 countries in the world most affected by climate change in the past 20 years..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of publication:
2019-11-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Climate Change - Migration Global, Climate Change - Migration Burma/Myanmar, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
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Description:
"South Korea and five member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Monday on boosting development cooperation in education, smart cities and other fields, Seoul's aid agency said.
The MOU, signed with Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam, aims to expand official development assistance (ODA) in the five countries under five flagship programs designed by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), KOICA said in a release.
The signing took place on the margins of the special summit between leaders of South Korea and ASEAN partners being held in Busan to commemorate the 30th anniversary of their dialogue relations.
The programs focus on forging digital partnerships for inclusive development, providing assistance for higher education and establishing smart cities and transportation, the aid agency said.
The programs are designed based on the New Southern Policy, a key policy initiative pushed for by the Moon Jae-in government that seeks to deepen economic and other ties with ASEAN members and India..."
Source/publisher:
"The Korea Times" (South Korea)
Date of publication:
2019-11-25
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with ASEAN, Burma's economic relations with South Korea, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, ASEAN-Burma relations, South Korea-Burma relations
Language:
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Description:
"China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) continues to draw criticism and disapproval. Its sceptics brand it as China’s Marshall Plan or as a ‘neo-imperial project’. To ensure the initiative’s success, China should heed some of these concerns and take steps to improve the implementation of BRI-related projects. Doing so is particularly important in ASEAN — a region that stands to greatly benefit from BRI investment, if done right. ASEAN is the world’s sixth-largest economy with a total GDP of more than US$2.5 trillion. Economies across the region are growing steadily at an average annual rate of around 5 per cent. Sustaining this growth requires the region to meet its growing infrastructure needs, which are estimated to amount to US$2.8 trillion from 2016 to 2030.
China’s BRI is important for ASEAN because it can help to fund and meet the region’s infrastructure needs. It also supports the success of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025 initiatives.
A major BRI–ASEAN project is the Pan-Asia Railway Network designed to connect China with Southeast Asia. Its three main railway routes — the eastern, central and western routes — all begin in Kunming, China. The eastern route has a total estimated cost of US$600 million and will pass through Vietnam and Cambodia into Thailand. The central route will pass through Laos, Thailand and Malaysia into Singapore. As a high-speed railway project, it is the most expensive route with an estimated cost of more than US$33 billion. The western route will pass through Myanmar into Thailand and is estimated to cost US$2 billion..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of publication:
2019-01-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with ASEAN, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, Burma's economic relations with China, ASEAN-Burma relations, China-Burma relations
Language:
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36.6 KB (3 pages)
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Description:
"The ASEAN Safe Migration Campaign was launched in December 2018 at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta. Building on the 2017 ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers signed in Manila, the campaign seeks to ‘raise public awareness on safe labour migration that benefits all’. While well-intentioned, the campaign is hindered by a simplistic concept of safe migration that falls short of addressing the challenges faced by migrant workers in the region. Significant ambiguity surrounds the concept of ‘safe’ migration. Without a clear understanding of the term, scholars and practitioners are using the term loosely. Safe migration is open to subjective interpretation and its meaning differs across actors. If we neglect to examine what safe migration means in a given context, contradictions will compromise efforts to protect and promote the rights of migrant workers.
So, what is safe migration? The most accurate answer is that it depends. The more helpful answer is that the meaning of safe migration is derived from how individual communities present and use the term. While basic aspects of safety such as the preservation of life are clear and undisputed, other associations often depend on how local actors define the concept. In the context of Southeast Asia, the ASEAN Safe Migration Campaign offers a window into understanding how safe migration relates to the region’s seven million migrant workers..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of publication:
2019-08-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
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pdf
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46.54 KB (4 pages)
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