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To save Myanmar’s people, ASEAN should act now
The killing has continued.
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This handout photo taken and released by Dawei Watch on April 6 shows a protester holding a sign during a rally against the military coup in Launglone township in Myanmar's Dawei district. (Dawei Watch via AFP/Handout)
I
t has been more than a month since ASEAN foreign ministers met virtually to discuss the crisis in Myanmar on March 2. At the meeting, the ministers “called on all parties to refrain from instigating further violence”.
This sort of statement has had no effect on the Tatmadaw, the Myanmar’s armed forces. The killing has continued.
On March 19, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo called for a special ASEAN summit. A week later, on Myanmar’s Armed Forces Day on March 27, the Tatmadaw killed more than 100 protesters. On Friday, more than 80 people were killed.
By Sunday, at least 700 lives had been lost in the wake of the Feb. 1 military coup, and thousands had been arrested.
Pressure has mounted on ASEAN to move faster and find a solution to the Myanmar conundrum. Indonesia’s request for ASEAN to convene a special summit raised expectations that the group finally sensed the urgency of the matter. Unfortunately, the bloc has still not announced when the special ASEAN summit will be held.
It seems some ASEAN countries are still struggling to find suitable dates for their leaders to travel to the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta. Not everyone has the same sense of urgency that the group needs to act fast or the people of Myanmar will suffer more.
ASEAN may not be in a position to offer an immediate solution to the Myanmar crisis, but it has an obligation to find ways to prevent the ongoing crisis from developing into a full-blown humanitarian tragedy and a catastrophe of epic proportions. It needs to find ways to stop the killing at the least.
