In the run-up to the Special ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Jakarta, the regional bloc had faced growing pressure to firmly act against the military regime in Myanmar, which has been ignoring calls to end a brutal crackdown on political opponents and civilian protesters.

After the talks, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said the assembly saw participants airing their concerns and frustrations over the sluggish progress on the Five-Point Consensus (5PC), a set of demands put forward in April 2021 in the hope of ending the coup crisis.

“Indonesia emphasized the importance of an immediate engagement with all stakeholders, as mandated by the 5PC. [...] As a note, engagement with the junta has only been done as part of the all-round engagement. It has nothing to do with its recognition,” Retno asserted.

Critics have lambasted ASEAN’s continued engagement with the military, with one open letter signed by hundreds of civil society groups stating that it only “condoned and emboldened the illegal junta”.

Others called for the expulsion of Myanmar from the 10-nation organization, after the junta repeatedly blocked access to the ASEAN chair’s special envoy to meet with representatives of opposition groups in Myanmar.

Sidharto Suryodipuro, the Foreign Ministry’s director general for ASEAN cooperation, insisted that the bloc had never considered kicking Myanmar out of the group.

However, he did confirm that ASEAN would be engaging with other stakeholders, including the National Unity Government (NUG), the shadow government run by ousted members of the former civilian administration.

“[Today] the foreign ministers were asking why so many of ASEAN’s meetings have been closed, and if it was maybe time to engage with other actors,” Sidharto told reporters.

As the incoming chair of ASEAN, Indonesia would set up a process to determine which parties would be involved “to ensure inclusive discussions,” he said on Thursday.

But Indonesia would not seek the junta’s permission to engage with the opposition when it assumes the ASEAN chairmanship in three weeks’ time, the senior official said.

‘More determined’

In the meeting earlier that day, outgoing ASEAN chair Cambodia attributed the bloc’s failure to facilitate dialogue between the junta and the opposition to the “complexity and difficulty” of the country’s internal strife, which had been further exacerbated by the coup crisis.

Recent weeks have seen some of the bloodiest incidents in Myanmar, including the bombing of the country’s largest prison and an air strike in Kachin state on Sunday, which was broadly condemned for killing at least 50 people.

“Despite these great challenges, the meeting agreed that ASEAN should not be discouraged but [be] even more determined to help Myanmar to bring about a peaceful solution [at] the soonest possible [time],” Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn said after the talks.

The participants also reaffirmed the importance of the 5PC and the need to further strengthen its implementation “through concrete, practical and time-bound actions”.

“The time to act is now,” the chair said.

Mounting pressure

Several international actors, including Human Rights Watch (HRW), had counted on Thursday’s meeting to deliver clear actions such as increased protection of Myanmar asylum seekers.

United States officials have also piled pressure on ASEAN to “hold the [junta] accountable” since at least July, with top US diplomat for East Asia Daniel Kritenbrink urging a “forceful call to do more to apply pressure to the regime”.

Visiting European Union diplomat Eamon Gilmore noted the “massive violations in human rights” inflicted by the junta, saying that the bloc would “continue to discuss the Myanmar issue with ASEAN [and] Indonesia”.

“The situation [has] gotten worse in these two years. We want to see progress,” Gilmore said in Jakarta.

That the pressure to resolve the crisis in Myanmar has only mounted has not been passed over by Jakarta, which will soon be in charge of the 10-nation bloc along with all its predicaments.

Saying that “sweeping problems under the carpet is not an option [for ASEAN]”, Retno emphasized that all of the group’s envoys would continue working to facilitate peace.

“A lot of sensitive issues have been discussed. As a family, these discussions are of [utmost] importance to ensure the good for all,” she stated.

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