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ASEAN mum as deadly Myanmar airstrike draws global ire
While other international bodies have clearly stated their views on the junta’s attack, thought to be one of the deadliest since the coup, no ASEAN nation, nor the body as a whole, had issued a statement as of Wednesday night.
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he Myanmar junta confirmed on Wednesday that it was responsible for an airstrike in the country’s northwestern region of Sagaing that reportedly killed up to 100 people, eliciting an outcry against the continuing violence and the silence of Myanmar’s ASEAN neighbors.
The Tuesday attack came barely a week after ASEAN chair Indonesia said diplomatic progress was being made in Myanmar, despite the continued efforts of its military rulers to quash resistance to their 2021 overthrow of a democratically elected government.
Myanmar’s National Unity Government, consisting of former lawmakers from ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, called the strike a “heinous act”.
Others from the international community have condemned the atrocity targeting junta opponents, but ASEAN, which has sought to position itself as the primary institution facilitating peace in Myanmar, had yet to issue a statement as of Wednesday night.
The airstrike was carried out by a fighter jet and a helicopter during an event held by a local defense force office affiliated with the junta’s opponents, AFP reported.
While the junta claimed the attack was “limited” to targeting people associated with “terrorists”, witnesses and first responders said bodies of children were found in the area.
The exact number of fatalities remains unclear, although reports have put the death toll as high as 100 after bodies were recovered and survivors transported to safety.
“We conducted the attack. PDF [People’s Defense Force] members were killed. They are the ones opposing the government of the country, the people of the country,” said junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun in a military broadcast channel, as quoted by Reuters.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a swift statement “strongly condemning the attack by the Myanmar Armed Forces” and called for those responsible to be held accountable.
“[Guterres] reiterates his call for the military to end the campaign of violence against the Myanmar population throughout the country,” the UN statement said.
On Tuesday, Amnesty International released a statement describing the tragedy as “horrifying” and “despicable”.
“[It] highlights the urgent need to suspend the import of aviation fuel [into Myanmar]. Amnesty reiterates its calls on all states and businesses to stop shipments that may end up in the hands of the Myanmar Air Force,” it wrote.
“These airstrikes come just ahead of the two-year anniversary of ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus [5PC] on Myanmar, which has utterly failed to stop the military atrocities.”
Deafening silence
While other international bodies have clearly stated their views on the junta’s attack, thought to be one of the deadliest since the coup, no ASEAN nation, nor the body as a whole, had issued a statement as of Wednesday night.
A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry told The Jakarta Post that an ASEAN chair statement was forthcoming but that it would involve a consensus-building process.
In its more than three months of leading the 10-nation bloc, Indonesia has taken a conspicuously silent approach to Myanmar diplomacy, a strategy it has defended by saying public statements could jeopardize the progress it claims is underway in Naypyidaw.
Jakarta has also stood by the Five-Point Consensus (5PC), a set of demands calling for peace and reconciliation that is approaching its two-year anniversary this month.
But following the most recent developments, analysts have called on Jakarta to take a firmer and more vocal approach to the issue and start involving civil society groups to develop a clearer plan.
“We have no idea what is going on because of this quiet diplomacy. Do we have a plan? Do we have a framework? A road map?” said Lina Alexandra, head of the international relations department at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), on Wednesday.
“This information does not have to be completely public but should be shared with the well-informed public such as think tanks, so we can collaborate.”
Lina also told the Post that it was “unfortunate” that Indonesia had not immediately issued a statement, either as a sovereign nation or as ASEAN chair.
Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a senior international relations expert at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), echoed these sentiments, saying Jakarta should “openly criticize” the junta’s actions without waiting for other nations’ agreement.
“Indonesia and ASEAN cannot sit in this silence. [...] Indonesia, especially, is constitutionally mandated to be an advocate for human rights. It is against our constitution to stay quiet as Myanmar, a close partner of Indonesia, violates its own people.”
